Why VAR didn’t rule out Cole Palmer’s goal for Chelsea against Wolves

Cole Palmer scored a stunning goal during Chelsea’s resounding 6-2 win over Wolves – but footage shows it shouldn’t have stood.

The England international rounded off a quick counter attack with a delightful clipped finish from 30 yards over Jose Sa to put the Blues 2-1 ahead.

However, his 45th-minute strike at Molineux technically should have been disallowed by the officials.

Moments before Palmer scored, Chelsea’s attack was launched by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez who picked out Nicolas Jackson with a long pass from a goal-kick.

Jackson flicked the ball inside to Palmer who coolly lobbed Sa after catching him well off his line.

But slow motion replays shared with viewers on beIN SPORTS showed the ball was actually moving when Sanchez pinged it forward.

‘It’s rolling,’ said host Richard Keys during the analysis. ‘Strictly speaking it should be disallowed.’

The rules state that the ball has to be completely still before a restart – and players are often ordered to retake a kick for a ‘moving ball’.

On this occasion, though, the rule break went completely unnoticed by referee Darren England in real time.

And another little-known quirk meant video assistant referee John Brooks was also unable to intervene.

It’s not within VAR protocol to check for restarts during a passage of play leading up to a goal.

VAR officials at Stockley Park could only check for an offside in relation to Palmer’s goal and both he and Jackson were clearly onside, meaning it couldn’t be ruled out.

Jackson had given the visitors an early lead but they were pegged back by Matheus Cunha’s crisp finish in the 27th minute before Palmer’s controversial wonder goal.

Jorgen Strand Larsen brought the hosts level once again on the stroke of half-time but Enzo Maresca’s side dismantled Wolves in the second period.

Noni Madueke scored a 14-minute hat-trick before Joao Felix rounded off a resounding victory in the 80th minute upon his return to Chelsea after he was teed up by former Wolves winger Pedro Neto.

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