Premier League release two Chelsea VAR statements during incident-packed Leicester City win

Chelsea remain third in the Premier League after their 2-1 win over Leicester City. Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez were on target as the Blues weathered a late surge from the Foxes with Jordan Ayew scoring a penalty deep into stoppage time to deny Robert Sanchez a clean sheet.

Enzo Maresca's side returned to winning ways, after settling for a point with London rivals Arsenal on the eve of the international break. Victory against his former club increased pressure on Steve Cooper with the Foxes slipping to 17th in the Premier League. Chelsea sit one point behind second-placed Manchester City and six off league leaders Liverpool.

The Blues return to European action in midweek when they travel to Germany in the Europa Conference League to take on Heidenheim before returning to Stamford Bridge on Sunday when Aston Villa visit the capital.

Chelsea thought they had doubled their lead in the first-half when Noni Madueke struck but celebrations were cut short when it was adjudged that Marc Cucurella strayed offside. The Premier League wrote: "The referee’s call of no goal was checked and confirmed by the VAR as the Spaniard was in an offside position in the build-up."

There were eight yellow cards shown at the King Power Stadium, including one for the Leicester manager. Wilfred Ndidi was fortunate to not receive a red card for a wild lunge on Cole Palmer, catching the England international on his Achilles.

Football.london understands that a red card wasn't issued because Ndidi came from a short distance and the challenge lacked intensity.

As a result, Paul Tierney, in Stockley Park, agreed with the on-field decision and felt there was no necessary ground to intervene.

Cooper was cautioned by referee Andy Madley following his protestations after Stephy Mavididi went down in the box appealing for a penalty following an alleged coming together with Wesley Fofana. However, it is understood that the spot-kick wasn't given after the VAR checked the incident but agreed with the initial decision that the Chelsea defender hadn't made a challenge.

The hosts did get a penalty deep in stoppage time when Bobby De Cordova-Reid was brought down in the box. However, it was awarded after the assistant referee raised his flag for offside in the build-up.

Following the intervention of VAR, a penalty was awarded and the Premier League issued another statement which read: "The on-field decision was offside following a challenge in the penalty area by Lavia on De Cordova-Reid.

"The referee was going to award a penalty kick, which was overruled by the decision of offside. The VAR checked and confirmed that De Cordova-Reid was in an onside position and also confirmed the referee’s call of penalty kick."