Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham has labeled Chelsea’s replay penalty that sent his side out of the Champions League a “joke” on Tuesday.
The second leg of the last 16 tie at Stamford Bridge ended well at 1-1, with Raheem Sterling’s goal on the night giving the Blues a 1-0 win, Ben Chilwell pouncing on the arm of Marius Wolff early in the second half.
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Referee Danny McKelle sent VAR’s Paul Van Boeckel to the monitor to look at the incident and subsequently flagged the ball as Kai Havertz hit the post.
However, another VAR review revealed that several Dortmund players had entered the penalty area before Havertz hit the ball, prompting McKelle to be ordered back as the Germany international sent his side through to the quarter-finals 2-1 on aggregate.
“I don’t know what else he can do with his hands,” Bellingham said after his first handball game. “That in itself was disappointing and the fact that they resubmitted, I think, is a joke.
“For every penalty, especially when you’re running slowly, people go into the box near the yard. He made a decision and we have to live with it.”
Asked to elaborate on the arbitration, Bellingham said: “I don’t want to get in trouble. I paid them a lot of money,” he added.
The result was a huge boost for Chelsea boss Graham Potter, whose side are 10th in the Premier League after winning back-to-back games for the first time since October.
Potter endured criticism from a section of Chelsea fans and he said: “In life, of course, you have bad times and good times. I don’t see any other way to look at it. It’s your job. Tough times, get perspective and analyze it properly. Things are never going to be bad forever. , but sometimes it was!
“My job is to help the team, help the players, prepare the team as best we can and support them. They suffered too. Nobody enjoyed the run we had. That’s why today was important. We wanted to progress and we got it, so we’re happy.”
