In the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea on Sunday, Eberechi Eze was prevented from scoring a free kick as the game ended in a scoreless tie.
The 27-year-old midfielder, who has been rumored to be moving to Tottenham Hotspur, began at Stamford Bridge and seemed to put Palace ahead in the 13th minute with a powerful shot from 20 yards out.
The goal was deemed illegal by referee Darren England after a VAR review, though, because defender Marc Guehi was found to have been less than a meter away from Chelsea's wall when the kick was taken. After a promising first half, in which JeanPhilippe Mateta and Maxence Lacroix also came close, the regulation, which was implemented in 2019, disappointed Palace.
Following its victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup just over a month ago, Chelsea displayed the trophy before the game and appeared disorganized for the most of the first half.
Chelsea newcomers Liam Delap, Estevao, and Andrey Santos all posed a threat after entering the game from the sidelines, but none of them were able to score. Brentford was defeated by Nottingham Forest.
In their Premier League debut, Nottingham Forest trounced Brentford 31, ruining Keith Andrews' first game as Brentford manager.
Chris Wood scored from a corner in the fifth minute to give Forest the early lead. Three minutes prior to the half, when Swiss debutante Dan Ndoye jumped to head in Morgan GibbsWhite's chipped pass, the host maintained its dominance and doubled its advantage.
When Elliot Anderson intercepted Sepp van den Berg's ball in first half stoppage time and released Wood, who calmly rounded goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to score his second goal, the game was essentially over.
Igor Thiago scored from the penalty spot in the 78th minute after Ibrahim Sangare committed a handball in the area, giving the Brazilian his first goal since joining from Club Brugge. Despite rarely posing a threat, Brentford scored.
Andrews had a rough debut in charge of the Bees, while the win represented Forest's first league victory on opening day since 2017–18.
