Chelsea star Tammy Abraham is left hanging for AGES by referee Stuart Attwell ahead of Aston Villa clash

Posted Tuesday, December 29, 2020 by Thesun.co.uk

CHELSEA star Tammy Abraham was awkwardly left hanging by referee Stuart Attwell before their draw with Aston Villa.

England striker Abraham, 23, went to greet the match official in the tunnel at Stamford Bridge only for Attwell, 38, to be seemingly completely unaware.

Abraham held out his fist in the tunnelCredit: Amazon

Chelsea star Tammy Abraham is left hanging for AGES by referee Stuart Attwell ahead of Aston Villa clash
Abraham had to tap the ref on the arm to get his attentionCredit: Amazon

Chelsea star Tammy Abraham is left hanging for AGES by referee Stuart Attwell ahead of Aston Villa clash
Stuart Attwell finally returned Abraham's gestureCredit: Amazon

Abraham was named as a sub for the Blues despite scoring three goals in his last two Premier League games, including a late consolation in the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Boxing Day.

And when he came through the tunnel in his sub jacket, ex-Villa loanee Abraham politely offered the ref a Covid-safe fist bump.

However, the Premier League's youngest ever ref was in a world of his own, leaving Abraham hilariously looking around with his arm outstretched.

Eventually he was forced to give Attwell a gentle tap on the shoulder to end the uncomfortable impasse.

And only then did Abraham receive a fist bump back from the official, who appeared to be talking to someone else in the opposite direction.

The whole exchange was captured on the internal Amazon cameras before kick-off.

And it is not the first time Abraham has been involved in an off-field interaction after he appeared to tell Gunner Bukayo Saka to 'shut up'.

The Three Lions team-mates seemed to be debating whether Saka meant his audacious lob of Edouard Mendy.

Chelsea took the lead against Villa thanks to Olivier Giroud's header from Ben Chilwell's cross before being pegged back by Anwar El Ghazi's strike after the break.

Frank Lampard's side were in action again just 48 hours after defeat to London rivals Arsenal and could only pick up one point after the 1-1 draw.