Chelsea handed immediate VAR verdict after two incidents in Aston Villa clash

Chelsea were so close to falling behind again at Villa Park in the first half (Image: TNT Sports)

Ollie Watkins was marginally offside when he thought he fired Aston Villa back into the lead against Chelsea . However, Joao Pedro's strike on the stroke of half time was allowed, as he was only just onside.

The first half at Villa Park was a pulsating experience for all in attendance. Douglas Luiz, a Chelsea January transfer window target, opened the scoring by putting the finishing touch on a free-flowing team move.

Liam Rosenior's side saw a close-range header from Pedro be saved exceptionally by Emiliano Martinez, not long after the Villa goal. Pedro did go on to find the net when he slid in to the six-yard box to poke Malo Gusto's zipping cross into the back of the net from close range.

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Both sides found the net again soon after, but had completely different end results. After Reece James gave the ball away with a slack half, Villa counter-attacked through Morgan Rogers and Watkins.

Their end-to-end move was finished off by the latter, who shot through Filip Jorgensen to send Villa Park crazy. However, VAR intervened, to the horror of the home supporters, as the automated offside system said the England international was offside by a tiny margin.

Watkins' timing was a tiny bit off (Image: X/Premier League Match Centre)

Not long after the ex-Brentford forward's strike was chalked off, the Premier League Match Centre explained the verdict on social media. It wrote: "VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Watkins was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed."

To rub salt into Unai Emery's side's wounds, Pedro found the net on the stroke of half time to give Rosenior's side the lead. After he dinked the ball over Martinez, the VAR checking screen re-appeared on the big screens in the Midlands.

Villa fans cheered, thinking Pedro's superb strike was going to count for nothing, just as it did for Watkins. However, to their horror, the Brazilian was onside and the goal stood.

The goal ensured Rosenior's side went into half time leading 2-1 in a must win match for the West Londoners. The recent defeat to Arsenal, combined with the costly draws against Leeds United and Burnley meant the Blues came into the contest in sixth position.

Liverpool's surprise away defeat to rock bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers gave the west Londoners the opportunity to leapfrog them into fifth position, which may be enough to secure a place in the Champions League.

Chelsea would go level on points with the defending Premier League champions, but have a superior goal difference.