Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze thought he had scored a glorious goal from a 26th-minute free kick roughly 30 yards outside the penalty area Sunday — but brutally it did not count. While the ball was in the air, the referee blew the whistle for a foul he supposedly spotted inside the penalty area, ultimately negating Eze's beautiful strike that ricocheted off the right goalpost and into the Brentford keeper's net. A stunning free kick by Eberechi Eze—but the goal won't stand due to a foul called away from the ball.
#BRECRY | USA Network pic.twitter.com/yaA493e0Mn However, Crystal Palace fans' audible frustrations seemed to be justified.
The video assistant referee (VAR) instructed the on-field official to pause the restart so the play could be reviewed, and the replay showed that the foul was a mere tangling of feet between teammates. Unfortunately, VAR cannot be used to overturn a simple foul call, according to the league's explanation of the decision posted on X. #BRECRY – 26’ The referee awards a free-kick to Brentford for a foul by Hughes on Collins.
The whistle was blown before the ball entered the goal, so VAR cannot intervene and the referee’s call stands. Additionally, because the ball was still in the air and had not crossed the goal line before the whistle blew, the on-field call could not be overturned. Therefore, a clear Goal of the Season candidate was wiped off the books because of an apparent blatant error by the on-field referee.
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