WHY JAMIE CARRAGHER SAYS FULHAM’S "SOFT" PENALTY EXPOSED A MASSIVE VAR CONSPIRACY
Jamie Carragher blasts VAR for awarding Fulham a "soft" penalty while ignoring William Saliba’s foul on Thierno Barry.
Jamie Carragher couldn't believe Fulham got a penalty against Nottingham Forest while Everton didn't get one against Arsenal. He thinks Everton's boss, David Moyes, probably feels the same way.
Fulham won their game 1-0 thanks to a penalty scored by Raul Jiminez after Douglas Luiz of Forest was called for a foul on Fulham's Kevin. Carragher, watching the game, said the foul on Kevin wasn't as bad as when Arsenal's William Saliba appeared to clip Everton's Thierno Barry in the box on Saturday.
Even though it looked like Saliba kicked Barry, VAR didn't award a penalty. Arsenal ended up winning 1-0 with a penalty from Viktor Gyokeres.
Carragher, who used to play for David Moyes, said the Fulham penalty seemed a bit soft. Luiz was on the ground trying to clear the ball, and he just happened to make contact with Kevin. It's hard to say the ref was wrong, but it felt like a weak call. Since Luiz didn't get the ball, he can't really argue. But it reminded me of what happened with Arsenal and Everton.
If I were David Moyes, I'd be wondering how we didn't get a penalty. Luiz was on the ground, trying to flick the ball away, so he couldn't have put much force into it. Saliba, on the other hand, was trying to boot the ball as far as possible from his own goal.
Saliba put way more power behind his challenge, which you'd expect from a defender. That's what made it different from the Luiz situation.
Neither player got the ball, but the attackers got there first. So, I don't get how the calls can be so different. The Saliba challenge looked much more like a penalty to me than the one Fulham got.
When Moyes was asked about the incident after the match, he said, "I think we've seen penalties given when someone gets kicked in the foot or back." It was on his Achilles, actually.
Nothing much was happening at the time. Saliba went in, Thierno got his foot in first and kicked the ball away, and then Saliba ended up kicking through Barry.
You'd all probably agree that we could have been given a penalty. VAR must not have thought it was enough to send the ref to the screen.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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