Video: Chelsea's Ramires could have conceded a penalty for a silly foul against PSG
Last night’s Champions League tie between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain wasn’t devoid of talking points both on and off the pitch. Brainslav Ivanovic struck first to give the Londoners the lead ten minutes before half time.
The French giants replied to draw level in the 54th minute through a close-range Edinson Cavani header. The second half belonged to PSG as Laurent Blanc’s side pushed hard for a winner and pegged the Premier League leaders back, forcing them to stay in their own half.
Jose Mourinho has of late been an enthusiastic propagator of the existence of a widely hatched conspiracy against his Chelsea team. However, on Tuesday night the Chelsea manager would have been thankful that referee Cüneyt Çakir overlooked one particular incident which might have seen Chelsea going into the second leg with a one-goal deficit.
As the French side attacked relentlessly towards the end, Chelsea midfielder Ramires came out with a seemingly intentional extended foot inside the box, to block off PSG Javier Pastore and keep him from closing down Ivanovic.
Watch the incident here:
One might argue that at the time of the tackle, PSG did not have possession and Chelsea were carrying the ball out of the box. However, an intentional foot in, to stop an opposing player would warrant a foul at the minimum, if not a caution.
The footage clearly indicates Ramires looks at Pastore coming from behind him and extends his foot to trip the Argentine. The positioning of the incident means that if the referee had made the right call and called it a foul, it would have been a penalty to Paris Saint-Germain.