The referee made the Manchester City players very angry on February 17 when he didn’t call what they thought was a clear handball against Chelsea.
The City fans had a great game at the Etihad, but they lost two important points.
Raheem Sterling scored the first goal for Chelsea after a great counterattack by the guests. He was back to haunt his old team.
The team led by Mauricio Pochettino did a great job. They looked scary the whole game and should have eliminated City but for some bad finishing.
As well, City had chances, and the team’s top scorer, Erling Haaland, will feel bad about missing a clear chance as time ran out.
Rodri’s dangerous shot finally tied the game late in the game when it cleverly deflected off Trevor Chalobah and into the net.
Handball game at Colwill
At the very end of the game, there was a disagreement because City players thought Chelsea defender Colwill touched the ball in the box.
The defender and City’s Ruben Dias got into a fight in the air, and as the ball fell to the ground, it hit the defender in the hand.
Because the Manchester City players were so angry, referee Andy Madley had to check the VAR, but in the end, he decided not to pay attention to what happened.
How the law says things
It’s clear that Colwill’s arm touched the ball, but the defender probably didn’t notice.
These are the rules that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has for handball events.
For it to be a handball offence, a player must “deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm, for example by moving their hand or arm towards the ball.”
If a player “touches the ball with their hand or arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger,” the team could also get in trouble for handball.
If it is determined that a player “made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand or arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that particular situation, the player may also be penalised.” This position puts the person at risk of getting in trouble if the ball hits their hand or arm.
The defence in Colwill’s case was a little off balance, and his arms stayed close to his body. Also, the defence didn’t try to play the ball with his hand on purpose.
What are Chelsea and Manchester City going to do next?
Because of the tie, City is now in fourth place in the standings, four points behind winners Liverpool, who beat Brentford 4-1 in their last game.
For Pep Guardiola’s team, their next game is a Premier League home game against Brentford.
On the other hand, Chelsea will be focused on their game against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, February 25.
What Nicolas Jackson said to Enzo Still talking about the Man City vs. Chelsea game, Sports Brief brought up an event that a lot of people knew about featuring Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson.
Jackson got very angry with Enzo when the Argentine missed a penalty kick.
A video that has gone viral shows Jackson and Enzo aiming for the same ball to shoot. Jackson was mad that his freind had already shot the ball before him.
