Ex-FIFA ref reacts to footage that led to Daniel Farke apology in Leeds United defeat vs Chelsea

Leeds United's action-packed Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea was not without its controversies.

The Whites were beaten 6-3 in a third-round thriller at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to exit the competition.

Leeds had led 2-0 thanks to goals either side of half-time from Tarik Muharemovic and Brenden Aaronson.

But braces from Cole Palmer and Danny Welbeck, as well as goals from Pedro Neto and Valentin Barco put Chelsea into the next round - Dominic Calvert-Lewin having briefly brought it back to 4-3.

Chelsea's first goal was scored by Palmer from the penalty spot, with Dan James judged to have tripped Pep Chavarría.

That was one of two incidents for which Leeds boss Daniel Farke said he received an apology from referee Jarred Gillett.

What did Daniel Farke say about Leeds controversies vs Chelsea?

Farke was seething after the game, and felt Gillett had got the decision wrong to award a spot-kick against James.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Farke said: "It wasn’t even a chance for them, then the referee had the idea to give a penalty, so no one in the stadium was asking for it.

“None of their players was asking for it, but he spotted a situation where he thought he would give a penalty, and then they scored the goal."

Leeds also had a claim for a spot-kick of their own when Pedro Neto hacked down Noah Okafor, though replays did suggest that it took place outside of the box.

BBC Radio Leeds commentator Adam Pope reported that Farke said he had received an apology from Gillett after the game for the lack of consistency on the two incidents.

Keith Hackett reacts to incidents in Chelsea vs Leeds

Former FIFA referee Keith Hackett felt that Leeds were unfortunate to have a penalty awarded against them after reviewing the footage.

He also felt it was a foul on Okafor, but thinks that it should have been a free-kick awarded as opposed to a penalty.

Speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, Hackett said: "These two clips are not referee Gillett's finest performance.

"Football is a contact sport and the penalty kick awarded by the referee was incorrect. The Chelsea player going to ground did so in an exaggerated act of simulation.

"When you look at the challenge by the Chelsea player, yes it was certainly a foul and a free kick should have been awarded as the incident outside the penalty area when looking at the video clip at normal speed."