Premier League make official announcement on Chelsea v Tottenham controversy
The Premier League was forced to make an official announcement during Chelsea’s 1-0 win against Tottenham on Thursday.
A 60th-minute goal from Enzo Fernandez saw Spurs suffer their 16th Premier League defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge on 3 April, thus surpassing their abysmal record in the 2008-09 campaign.
The North London giants are, therefore, stuck at 14th place and are closer to the relegation zone (14 points) than they are to the top four (18 points).
The result will instigate further conversations around Ange Postecoglou‘s future at Tottenham, with Daniel Levy under increasing pressure to pull the plug on the Greek-Australian manager.
Premier League respond to Chelsea v Tottenham controversy
The truth is, things could have been worse for Tottenham as Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net through Moises Caicedo just six minutes after grabbing their opener.
However, Postecoglou’s men were let off on that occasion as the goal was eventually ruled out, with the VAR deeming Levi Colwill to have been offside in the build-up.
Lucas Bergvall’s defensive header went straight to Caicedo, who put the ball in the back of the net with a volley, after Spurs failed to deal with a free-kick from Fernandez.
| Team | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goal Difference | Points |
| 6. Chelsea | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 52 |
| 14. Tottenham | 30 | 10 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 34 |
Controversy ensued as the VAR took almost four minutes to determine that Colwill was in an offside position, much to Enzo Maresca and Co.’s frustration.
The Premier League wasted little time in clarifying the situation as they took to social media to explain what had happened.
“VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Colwill was in an offside position in the build-up and recommended that the goal was disallowed”, the Premier League announced via their Match Centre X account on Thursday, 3 April.
#CHETOT – 56’ VAR OVERTURN
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) April 3, 2025
VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Colwill was in an offside position in the build-up and recommended that the goal was disallowed. pic.twitter.com/EsKh8FoSHM
Spurs woes continue
Managers, players and fans will hope that the days of waiting several minutes for the VAR to determine if someone was offside or not are over soon as the Premier League introduces semi-automated offside technology from 12 April.
Spurs lock horns with Wolves at the Molineux Stadium that weekend.
Meanwhile, it is hard to see Postecoglou remain in charge of Tottenham beyond this season.
Losing 16 games in a Premier League season is unacceptable for a team like Spurs, and it will be a huge surprise if Levy does not sack him by the end of the season.