Chelsea's Controversial Goal: Did "Goal" Cross the Line After All?

Juan Mata's "goal" in the semi-final of the FA Cup between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will be remembered more than the five goals that the Blues crushed past Spurs.

It's the incident that has the Internet ablaze with speculation and criticism of referees and their inability to make the correct decision in important matches.

It's sparked off the goal-line technology debate again, which seemingly arises in every goal-line error these days.

For those that haven't seen the goal, watch it here.

Juan Mata was credited with the goal, even when the ball didn't appear to cross the line.

Or did it?

Courtesy of 101 Great Goals, pictures have emerged suggesting that maybe the ball did in fact cross the line after all. And if it did cross the line, then the referee was in fact correct in awarding the goal to Chelsea.

Referee was correct? You're kidding right?

Maybe referees aren't so bad after all. Maybe they did make the correct call and the goal-line technology debate can go away for another hour or so.

Maybe—just maybe—that in the midst of one of the biggest football matches of the year so far, the referees got the call 100 percent correct and deserve no criticism after all.

At the end of the day, the "goal" had no bearing on the final outcome, as Chelsea ran riot through Spurs defense who finished the match with a 5-1 flogging next to their names.

But with all the criticism of the referees and their "wrong" decision on the goal, it's definitely worth talking about and discussing.

Did the referees make the correct call? Should we take back some of the criticism we so quickly vented on Twitter and instead heap praise on the officials for making the correct decision despite all the pressure and attention that was on them?

You be the judge. Goal or not goal?

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