Alan Shearer stunned by Liam Delap after Chelsea goal line controversy – ‘Goodness me’

Liam Delap thought he had given Chelsea the lead early into their FA Cup clash with Hull City on Friday evening, only for goal-line technology to rule it out – and Alan Shearer was less than impressed with the striker’s reaction

Alan Shearer was in disbelief as Liam Delap failed to fire the ball into an open goal for Chelsea against Hull City on Friday evening.

The Blues striker thought he had given his side the lead 21 minutes into the FA Cup clash at the MKM Stadium, when Dillon Phillips’ attempted clearance ricocheted off him and bundled towards an empty net. After seemingly crossing the line, Delap looked as though he was about to wheel off in celebration, before turning to referee Farai Hallam for confirmation of a goal.

The 23-year-old raised his arm in the air as the ball bounced off the post and back to his feet, moments before Phillips closed the gap and Hull reinforcements arrived. As Delap tried to cut an angle and fire home, the Tigers goalkeeper dove at his feet to block the effort, as the hosts secured a turnover of possession.

Shearer, who was on commentary duties for the BBC for the fixture, was quick to criticise Delap for squandering the chance to make sure a goal would stand by slotting in the rebound.

The Newcastle United legend said: “Goodness me. What is Delap doing? It is as if he is thinking, ‘I have all the time in the world’.

“He ambles to it, and he takes his time. What are you waiting for?”

Over on TNT Sports, meanwhile, Sam Matterface and Lucy Ward were also on hand to give their own opinions. Matterface said: “Well, has it come back out? The referee hasn’t given it yet.

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“Did it go over the line or not? He thought it had, he gave it up and then the second time he didn’t convert it.”

Almost speechless, Ward added: “I can’t believe that. He sort of stopped…wow.”

Reviewing a replay, Ward explained: “That is really, really tight and obviously Delap is the closest one to it and he’s thinking, ‘Well yeah, that’s just gone in. I’m just waiting for the referee to blow his whistle.'”

Moments later, goal-line technology showed that the ball had not crossed the line completely, highlighting that Hallam and his fellow officials were correct in their judgement.

As a graphic was shown on screen, Matterface added: “This is the goal-line technology proving that it didn’t go over the line, Lucy,” as Ward agreed: “Okay, fair enough.

“I think Liam Delap turning around and having a look at the referee, expecting the watch to buzz. And it didn’t, and rightly so it didn’t.”

While they had to wait a further 20 minutes, Pedro Neto eventually ensured that Chelsea headed into the break with the advantage, laid up on the edge of the box before curling it into the side-netting with his left foot.

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