Chelsea's Thiago Silva turned into Maradona during Chelsea vs Borussia Dortmund

15 February 2023 , 21:24

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Silva's handball before the ball went into the net was clear

Chelsea thought they had opened the scoring away to Borussia Dortmund through veteran defender Thiago Silva – but the Brazilian defender’s finish came from a Diego Maradone-esque handball.

The Blues thought they had broken the deadlock as the ball found its way into the net, via the Brazilian, following a dangerous in-swinging free-kick from Reece James. However, the goal was correctly ruled out because Silva handled the ball.

Insult was added to injury following the incident as the 38-year-old received a yellow card for his troubles. Perhaps that was a little harsh, given Silva had appeared to be nudged before making contact with his hand. Dortmund right-back Marius Wolf had made contact with the defender in mid-air.

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While there certainly was not enough contact from Wolf to merit a penalty for the Blues, the decision to book Silva could be viewed as a harsh one as it was not an intentional move. Furthermore, Silva immediately held his hands up after the incident to acknowledge his handball.

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It was a frustrating incident for Graham Potter’s side in a finely poised Round of 16 tie. The Blues are struggling for form domestically as they languish 10th in the Premier League despite two transfer windows of sustained heavy spending on fees.

Dortmund by contrast had entered the game in supreme form – winning all of their six games since the World Cup. That upturn in their results has established them as title contenders in the Bundesliga – they now sit third in the division and just three points off leaders Bayern Munich.

The German team’s star midfielder Jude Bellingham is central to their hopes in this season’s Champions League - and captained the side against Chelsea - but they have no shortage of attacking threats with Sebastian Haller, Julian Brandt and Karim Adeyemi among their standout players.

Silva’s yellow card followed an early booking for right-back Reece James – meaning that half of Chelsea's defence would have to play over 75 minutes of the first leg in Dortmund with the threat of a possible red card hanging over their heads.

Colin Millar