A controversial ending to Saturday's London derby between Chelsea and West Ham has left plenty of talking points.
After a drab first half, the game burst into life after the interval. Michail Antonio's opener was cancelled out by Ben Chilwell's response, as Chelsea looked to get the winner in the last quarter of an hour.
Eventually, it was Kai Havertz who did get what proved to be the winner, but the drama did not end there. Maxwel Cornet's late disallowed goal was controversially ruled out after a VAR review, leaving David Moyes and his West Ham team enraged.
The implementation of VAR remains an issue
It is a shame that a thrilling ending to yet another game is overshadowed by the discussion regarding refereeing decisions. Yet again, the use of VAR in the Premier League causes controversy. Maxwel Cornet's stoppage time equaliser was ruled out, due to Andrew Madley deciding that Jarrod Bowen had fouled Edouard Mendy, just before the ball dropped to Cornet.
Madley had decided that he made a clear and obvious error, as he initially did not give the foul on the goalkeeper. It cannot be argued that Mendy, in his race with Bowen, got to the ball first. However, for Madley to adjudge his initial decision a 'clear an obvious error' and decide on second viewing, that the subsequent contact between the two was a foul by the winger, is rather puzzling.
With the introduction of VAR, which has allowed for referees to receive video help, in order to come up with correct decisions during games, we expected the accuracy of refereeing decisions to improve and it becoming much less of a talking point. However, the post-VAR era has brought about as much, if not more, talk about refereeing decisions and errors.
Unfortunately, it seems as if the tiresome and nauseating discussion of refereeing mistakes, including the anger and negative consequences it causes to supporters and teams negatively affected by them, shows no signs of coming to a halt.
Fofana strengthens Chelsea defence
With the inclusion of Wesley Fofana, Chelsea's back five today featured the Frenchmen, alongside Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly in the centre of defence, with Reece James and Marc Cucurella as the wing backs. Personnel wise, this looks a very strong unit of five.
The experience of Silva and Koulibaly are a good compliment to the 21-year-old Fofana, who will look to establish himself in this Chelsea team. The young centre back put in a decent performance today, dealing with the threat posed by Michail Antonio very well, particularly in the first half. As West Ham grew into the game in the second half, he was troubled a bit more, but it was still a promising debut from Fofana.
His physical and technical attributes set him up to be well suited to the role of a wide centre back in a back three. This system suits Chelsea's squad the best and following a disappointing performance in their most recent away game at St. Mary's, where they played the back four, it is something which they should look to stick to, from this point onwards.
Chelsea need to step up to get Top 4
The raised emotions caused by the dramatic, late winner and the subsequent equaliser being taken away by VAR, glosses over what was a, generally, poor Chelsea performance.
West Ham's discipline out of possession proved to be a real issue for the hosts - who struggled to create too many chances over the course of the game. Other than the two goals, there was only one attempt at Lukasz Fabianski's goal. Considering Chelsea's 69% possession, this indicates a lack of creativity within this team. Raheem Sterling looked good during the first half - the only player causing West Ham any kind of trouble.
Having Conor Gallagher occupy spaces so high up the pitch seemed a strange decision from Thomas Tuchel, with only Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling being the other two forward options.
Chelsea supporters will, most likely, be hoping for another Top 4 finish. With the quality of Manchester City and Liverpool, added to by Arsenal's perfect start to the season, Manchester United's recent revival and the presence of Tottenham, they will have to improve significantly to achieve it.
Antonio remains crucial for West Ham
Gianluca Scamacca has been absent from the squad for their two most recent games, due to illness. This meant that Michail Antonio got the chance to lead the line in back-to-back London derbies.
The forward's goal today was the reward for a typically hard-working performance. Antonio had to suffer in the first half, as his attempts to unsettle the Chelsea backline were, mostly, futile. However, he used his physicality to cause Fofana and Silva plenty of problems in the second half and put in a great performance, against a very high-quality defence.
What this performance proved, is that even with the new signing of Scamacca, Antonio has a vital role to play in this West Ham team. Both the strikers will have plenty of games to play in the Premier League and UEFA Conference League, which would make it difficult to suggest a clear divide between a 'first and 'second' choice striker in this West Ham squad.
Antonio will see plenty of game time this season and performances like this are vital to the success of The Hammers.
West Ham's next five league games could shape their season
It is a disappointing return of four points from the first five games of this Premier League season for West Ham. The consolation to this, is that they have already faced half of the 'big six' and their performances in the three most recent games (including today) have been fairly encouraging.
At the moment, it is no time for panic for supporters, especially when you consider the aforementioned caveats to the current 17th league position.
Their next five league games will have West Ham face: Newcastle United, Everton, Wolves, Fulham and Southampton. A list of fixtures, which would suggest that The Hammers need to get their Premier League season kickstarted, if they have ambitions of another European place push.
Should the poor form carry over into these games, then concern will begin to increase significantly. In a Leicester-like situation from last season, West Ham and their supporters may have to switch their focus and excitement onto the Conference League, should their league campaign look like it is fading into mediocrity.
It may be difficult to tamper expectations, after sixth and seventh placed finishes in the last two seasons and an active summer transfer window. However, should West Ham fail to capitalise on their upcoming fixture list, then it may have to be the reality.