VAR played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s hard-fought 2-0 victory over West London rivals Fulham in Saturday’s Premier League lunchtime match. Rodrigo Muniz’s alleged “careless challenge” in the buildup to Josh King’s well-taken goal in the first half resulted in the opener being called out. The biggest issue erupted after the break, when a decision put the result beyond the Cottagers’ reach.
Fulham manager Marco Silva will be furious after Rob Jones and VAR appeared to ignore a suspected handball by Joao Pedro in the buildup to the incident that resulted in Ryan Sessegnon surrendering a penalty through handball (watch the incident below). The penalty kick provided Chelsea with an easy path to goal, and it was the third time this season that VAR decisions favored them.
Unsurprisingly, there has been confusion both online and in the stands about why Enzo Maresca’s team was still given a six-yard try despite Pedro obviously touching the ball with his hand. However, an explanation has surfaced.
Why did Ryan Sessegnon concede a penalty despite Pedro’s handball?
The Premier League match centre’s explanation for the decision significantly omitted the other key occurrence. On X, they wrote (see below):
‘Following a VAR review, the referee reversed the original ruling of no penalty for Chelsea. Referee announcement: “After review, Fulham 30 makes his body unnaturally larger by blocking a cross with his arms stretched away from his body. Therefore, my final verdict is penalty kick.”‘
While there was no clear explanation for why Pedro’s handball did not result in an on-field decision of no penalty from standing, TNT Sports pundit Karen Carney proposed one possibility: officials may have judged it to be ball to hand rather than hand to ball, with the added factor that the distance between the scorer of Chelsea’s first goal and the ball was minimal.
In any case, VAR has already taken center stage in the 2025/26 season, and online supporters are naturally dissatisfied with some of the choices made thus far in its sixth year of operation. Consistency remains the most pressing issue, but Chelsea will not be moaning, especially after benefiting on the opening weekend when Eberechi Eze’s free kick for Crystal Palace was controversially ruled out.
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