EPL: You damaged English football – Pochettino slams VAR after Aston Villa draw

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EPL: You damaged English football – Pochettino slams VAR after Aston Villa draw

Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has slammed VAR following their 2-2 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Blues went two goals down in the first half, but fought back in the second half to level.

Axel Disasi thought he had headed in the winner, but VAR intervened and the goal was ruled out.

The result leaves Chelsea in 9th place with 48 points.

Speaking after the game, Pochettino said: “Two different things: the referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal and then went to the VAR to confirm.

“The referee is unbelievable and it’s ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things; in the semi-final [FA Cup against Man City] two weeks ago it was handball and it was no penalty; the referee, he didn’t check it.

“It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn’t understand why the goal was disallowed.

“They said it was foul and if you see the challenge, what happens if we go into every single challenge like this, it is going to be a foul and we wouldn’t finish the game with 11 [players].

“We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game.”