Eberechi Eze in action for Crystal Palace (AFP)
Eze, in a post-match interview to Sky Sports, would go on to state that referee Barrott admitted to the Palace forward that he was in the wrong for his decision.
Ah well, what would the Premier League be, if not for its share of hotly-contested refereeing decisions?
English football is truly back, and so are the instances of questionable refereeing, as Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze scored a belter of a free kick, only for it to be ruled out by the referee.
Palace, who were facing Brentford in their season opener, started off active, but were struggling to find the breakthrough. That was until Eze took control over a long-range effort.
The English forward launched a rocket of curler to the near post to leave Brentford’s Mark Flekken perplexed and lost, only for the ball to hit the woodwork and deflect back into the goal.
But, Palace’s celebrations would be cut short abruptly, as referee Sam Barrott would blow his whistle before the ball crossed the goal-line, thereby allowing him to rule Eze’s goal void.
Barrott would blow his whislte for seemingly obstructive infringement by Palace midfielder Will Hughes on Brentford’s Nathan Collins in the penalty area.
As expected, Palace would urge Barrott to go up to the VAR to check the incident. But, unfortunately for the Eagles, that would not be possible. Why? Well, it’s because Barrott had blown his whistle and stopped the game before the ball had passed the goal-line.
The controversial call would rile up commentators and pundits alike as well as fans. And what would add more insult to injury, Palace would go on to lose the encounter 2-1 as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa would seal the deal for Brentford.
What would be more embarassing? Well, Barrott later admitted to his error.
Eze, in a post-match interview to Sky Sports, would go on to state that referee Barrott admitted to the Palace forward that he was in the wrong for his decision.
“The referee said he blew too early and made a mistake, so fair enough, everyone makes mistakes, but that was a goal that could have made the difference today,” said Eze to Sky Sports.
“We feel a little bit [hard done by] because as he said, it was a mistake, but listen, we had so many other chances to score today, especially me, so one of those days and we just move on to the next one.”
Palace will face West Ham United next on August 24.
