Chelsea striker Armando Broja was on the receiving end of one of the most egregious offside calls witnessed in a professional game on Wednesday night.
The Blues managed to find the net in September and returned to the path of victory with a 1-0 win over Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round.
Nicolas Jackson notched the sole goal of the match at Stamford Bridge, securing a spot in the fourth round where Chelsea will face Championship side Blackburn Rovers.
But while there were good feelings around Chelsea again, there was a shocking decision which left fans in utter disbelief.
In stoppage time, Enzo Fernandez threaded through a delicious pass for substitute Broja to latch onto.
Yet, inexplicably, the linesman flagged for offside. That was despite Broja clearly being in his own half at the time the ball was played and therefore being onside.
Mauricio Pochettino was absolutely enraged by the baffling decision and ended up getting a yellow card for his complaints.
And it led to an eruption of responses online, with fans stunned at how the linesman got it so wrong.
One fumed: “Broja is offside here apparently. He’s in his own half. I want to laugh. But it’s genuinely not even funny. It’s pathetic.
A second ranted: “How do I explain from this picture that Broja was flagged for offside and Pochettino got a yellow card . It’s a Chelsea thing.”
A third added: “Another horrific decision from the referees. Calling an offside while Broja was through on goal, even though he was clearly behind the halfway line.”
A fourth said: “Embarrassing that the referee flagged Broja in his own half. This is a basic of the offside rule.”
Another questioned: “How did they give this as offside? Broja was literally in his own half.”
A sixth user commented: “I’ve just seen an official flag offside when Broja was in our own half.”
VAR was not in use in the game as it is not being utilised in the League Cup until the two-legged semi finals and Chelsea also had a second strike from Jackson wrongly chalked off in the second half.
The Blues will return to action in the Premier League on Monday when they take on rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage.