Blues let off as Eze screamer is ruled out by VAR nit-picker

TRAWL through the smallprint and you will find a law so obscure that only football anoraks and geeks will know it.

- By Mike Walters

Full marks to VAR nitpicker James Bell for calling it but he denied Eberechi Eze a dream parting gift to Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.

Eze is set to seal a £55million move to Tottenham and he might have gone out in a blaze of glory.

Instead, his vicious free-kick was chalked off and Chelsea escaped with a point.

Eagles defender Chris Richards said: “Everyone in the stadium thought it was a goal but you live and die by VAR - and today we died from it.”

They may be world champions but for long periods the Blues looked disjointed, leggy and stale. Enzo Maresca began another season in charge of alleged title contenders, with fans wearing Club World Cup trophy-shaped hats and ‘We've Won It All’ T-shirts.