Thiago Silva went under the VAR microscope during Chelsea's trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues made the infinitely tricky away journey to Selhurst Park for Graham Potter's first Premier League game in charge and it's fair to say that they didn't have everything their own way in south London.

Despite Patrick Vieira's Eagles not actually having been as stellar this season as most people seem to think, they nevertheless flexed their muscles against their capital neighbours in the first-half.

A seventh-minute strike from Odsonne Édouard to silence his doubters was enough to make Chelsea realise that they were going to have to dig deep if they wanted to take any points back to Stamford Bridge.

Thiago Silva's handball vs Palace

And at one point, their task looked almost impossible as the Palace fans and countless viewers watching on from home thought that Thiago Silva should have been sent off.

The legendary Brazilian centre-back had stopped Jordan Ayew from racing through on goal with what proved to be an incredibly cynical, obvious and deliberate handball.

The feeling was, understandably, that Silva had used unfair means to prevent what could have been a critical goalscoring opportunity for the home side.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 01: Graham Potter, Manager of Chelsea shakes hands with Thiago Silva following their side's victory in the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea FC at Selhurst Park on October 01, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

Palace chairman fumes on Twitter

However, despite VAR wading into the debate by looking at Silva's intervention in granular detail, the decision was taken that he should be awarded a yellow card as opposed to a red.

But try telling that to thousands of incensed onlookers with even Palace's chairman, Steve Parish, venting on Twitter: "Honestly what is the point of #var we chop and change every week what it does what it thinks. #Var must surely think that’s a red but not a ‘clear’ error! Even if it’s not a #dogso which it is He handballs it twice deliberately, one we play on so two yellows! #cpfc #epl."

Be sure to check out the incident for yourself to work out what punishment you would have given:

Video: Thiago Silva's controversial handball in Palace vs Chelsea

Why wasn't a red card given? PGMOL explains

Now, as prevalent as refereeing errors can be in the Premier League, rest assured - as hard as it might seem sometimes - that all decisions are taken with a great deal of thought and consideration.

And while there's nothing wrong with thinking that Silva should have been sent for an early bath, the case seems to be that the officials didn't think that there was a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO).

The message from PGMOL as relayed by Molly Hudson of The Times went as follows: "Referee/VAR after review believed it was not an ‘obvious’ goal scoring opportunity as still 40/45 yards from goal and two Chelsea players within 5-10 yards."

Chelsea go onto win 2-1

It's a tough pill to swallow for Palace fans who think that Ayew might well have scored, or at least come close, in a world where Silva hadn't dangled his arm into the equation.

And that's especially the case when you consider that it was Silva who turned provider for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's equaliser and that Chelsea eventually went onto win the game 2-1.

With the scores locked at 1-1 going into the final few minutes, none other than former Palace hero Conor Gallagher unleashed a stunning long-range effort to get the Potter era off to a winning start in the Premier League.