Topics: Malo Gusto, Willian, Marco Silva, Chelsea, Fulham, English Premier League
The Chelsea fullback caught Willian with his studs in a nasty first-half tackle, but while most fans thought he should have been sent off, both the referee and VAR thought otherwise.

The Premier League is back in full swing in 2024 but it did not take long for VAR to return to the headlines.

Chelsea hosted Fulham in Saturday's early kick-off as Mauricio Pochettino's men went in search of a third consecutive Premier League win. The Blues achieved their goal; however, that victory was marred by a controversial VAR decision.

Sterling and Co. locked horns with Fulham in an interesting London derby. Both sides had their sights on goal but it was Chelsea who came away with the three points, with Cole Palmer scoring the only goal of the game through a penalty right before halftime.

However, the London giants were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men. While the score line was still nil-nil, Malo Gusto, Pochettino's starting right-back, caught Willian with his studs during a poor attempt to tackle the Brazilian.

While the French fullback caught Willian just beneath the shin with his studs showing, fans watching the game believed he should have received a straight red card. Despite this, the referee opted against sending him off, booking the Frenchman instead, while VAR failed to intervene. Here is a replay of the incident (videos are geo-restricted).

Speaking after the game, Fulham boss Marco Silva could not hide his frustration with the decision, telling TNT Sports in his post-match interview that it was a dangerous tackle that deserved a sending-off. The Portuguese tactician also added that this kind of tackle results in a straight red card nine times out of 10. Check out his interview in the clip below.

Oddly enough, when presented with Silva's comment, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino even hinted that Gusto was fortunate to stay on — however, the Argentine did not go as far as saying he deserved a red, instead stating that he understood his counterpart's opinion.

With that result, the mega-spending London giants have climbed up to ninth, moving level on points with Man United and Brighton — the Seagulls are not in action this weekend while the Red Devils take to the field on Sunday.

Next up for Chelsea is the 2nd leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal showdown against Middlesbrough. The Blues lost the first leg 1-0 and will have to overturn that deficit in the return fixture at Stamford Bridge on January 23.