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Chelsea have taken a dig at West Ham United star Tomas Soucek after his alleged handball during a 1-1 Premier League draw at the London Stadium on Saturday (February 11).
The Blues registered their third consecutive Premier League stalemate during their London derby against the struggling David Moyes' side at the weekend. After Joao Felix opened the scoring in the 16th minute, Emerson Palmieri restored parity for the hosts just 12 minutes later.
In the closing stages of the contest, Conor Gallagher's left-footed effort struck the Czech's hand inside the Hammers' penalty box. Despite protests from the visiting side, referee Craig Pawson was unmoved.
Meanwhile, the PGMOL – the officials group for all FA competitions – have offered an explanation for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) upholding Pawson's on-field decision at the London Stadium. They have claimed that because Soucek's left hand was the 'hand that broke the fall', a spot-kick should not have been given, as per Mirror.
After the match, Chelsea's Twitter handle engaged in some banter.
The FIFA World Cup's Twitter handle announced the six nominees for their 2022 Best FIFA Men's and Women's Goalkeeper award. Quote-tweeting their tweet, the Blues asserted that Soucek should win it.
Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano Martinez and Yassine Bounou have been nominated for the men's award. Ann-Katrin Berger, Mary Earps, and Christiane Endler have been shortlisted for the women's honor.
Chelsea are currently in the ninth spot in the Premier League table with 31 points from 22 matches. The club are next set to be in action against Borussia Dortmund in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg at the Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday (February 15).
Chelsea manager Graham Potter quips at Tomas Soucek's headline-worthy incident
During a post-match press conference, Chelsea boss Graham Potter was asked for his opinion on Tomas Soucek's handball. He replied:
"I thought it was a good save. You need your goalkeeper sometimes to get you the points. It hasn't been given so there's nothing for me to say. I've only seen it briefly as I walked across [the VAR screen]. It's one of those ones that if it had been given, it wouldn't have been overturned but it hasn't been given so I don't know."
Claiming that Soucek had handled the ball clearly, Potter added:
"It looked like quite a handball to me. Again, like I said, I didn't know Tomas could get down that easily and save like that, it's really a good stop from him. It's not for me to say about VAR."
