Chelsea may face Premier League action over Aston Villa incident that left Tim Sherwood bemused
Aston Villa were left fuming by the antics of Chelsea at Villa Park at the start of the second half.
The Villans fell to a 4-1 defeat on Wednesday as a Joao Pedro hat-trick made the difference after Douglas Luiz’s early strike.
Liam Rosenior’s side were much the better on the night and deserved to take victory as the B6 faithful were left numb by what they saw.
That didn’t stop frustration from coming out throughout the Premier League clash, especially with what the away side were doing.
Chelsea huddled around the centre circle before the second half kicked off, taking the mick at Villa Park, but referee Jarred Gillett just stood by and watched on.
Tim Sherwood baffled by Chelsea huddle vs Aston Villa
A pre-match huddle isn’t anything unusual, but doing it before the second half begins is rather bizarre.
To add to the strange nature, they did so in the centre circle around the ball and pushed the Villa players out the way who were waiting to begin the second half.
Kick off was delayed as Gillett waited on Reece James and Co. to finish doing what they wanted before the game could restart.
Former Villa boss Tim Sherwood couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he grew increasingly frustrated by the Chelsea huddle on Sky Sports News.
He said: “It’s Villa’s kick off, and they won’t allow them to kick off because there’s a huddle around the ball. I don’t understand it. It baffles me.”
Premier League could take action after Chelsea antics at Villa Park
If Sherwood was annoyed in the Sky studio, it isn’t a surprise that the Villa Park faithful were massively frustrated before the second half.
There have been questions over why Chelsea were essentially allowed to just do what they wanted without any sort of repercussions.
Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett believes this was done to add to the atmosphere in B6 and has raised potential actions the Premier League could now take.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Hackett said: “We have come to expect a team going into a huddle before the start of the game.
“It is unusual for this huddle to take place before the start of the second half. It was, I believe, an attempt to raise the tension and atmosphere.
“So what action can the referee take?
“Do nothing by taking no action and getting the game started as quickly as possible? Once the huddle is over, issue a yellow card to the captain of the team who has delayed the restart?
“Or issue a special incident report and bring this to the attention of the Premier League, who may decide to take action.
“Television companies around the world that cover the Premier League do not like kick-offs to be delayed, given that many do not operate with analysts who can fill in these non-action events.
“It neither projects a positive image of the Premier League.”
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