Villa looked like they were going to run riot against Chelsea when they raced into a 2-0 lead at half-time following an own goal from Marc Cucurella and a sensational solo effort from playmaker Morgan Rogers.

An inspiring team talk from Mauricio Pochettino appeared to spark the Blues into life though, with Noni Madueke halving the deficit in the 62nd minute. Conor Gallagher then curled a glorious strike into the top corner to level the score with nine minutes left on the clock, and Chelsea thought they had found it late on.

The Blues players were sent into a frenzy when Disasi nodded his header past Robin Olsen from close range following a cross from Benoit Badiashile. However, their celebrations were cut short when Pawson was urged to review a coming together between Diego Carlos and Badiashile, and the latter was adjudged to have pushed the defender in the back to give himself the upper hand when jostling for possession.

Watch all the Premier League and Champions League drama unfold on TNT Sports

The decision left Pochettino and his squad furious, and ex-official Halsey suggests that Pawson is responsible for the uproar as he did not award a free kick to Villa initially. He told The Sun: “I was baffled why VAR got involved because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error. Referee Craig Pawson had a great view of the incident, he was looking directly at both players and allowed play to continue.

“If Pawson thought it was a foul by Benoit Badiashile on Diego Carlos then why didn’t he award a free-kick straight away? I felt it was a foul but Pawson had to give it in real time and then there wouldn’t have been a fuss afterwards.

“My big problem with this incident is it’s a classic case of technology re-refereeing a game and not what VAR is there for. VAR official Chris Kavanagh recommended an on-field review and Pawson changed his mind.

“I’ve watched Pawson for a long time and he does not seem to make the big decisions and uses VAR as a back-up. Although we got the right decision, the process of how we got there is not how we should be operating VAR in the Premier League.”