They say absence makes the heart grow fonder—but is that the case with VAR after an FA Cup fourth round filled with controversial decisions in the absence of the technology?
Leicester City and Birmingham were among the clubs left frustrated by the fact that VAR is not used in the FA Cup until the fifth round and beyond.
Last week, the Premier League released data suggesting that VAR accuracy is improving, with 13 errors from 70 interventions this season compared to 20 from 61 at the same stage last campaign. The league also claims that 100 percent of offside decisions in the top flight have been correct this term.
However, that will be little consolation to Leicester fans, who were convinced Harry Maguire was offside when he scored Manchester United’s late winner to knock them out of the FA Cup on Friday.
Birmingham supporters, meanwhile, pointed to a Newcastle goal where the entire ball did not appear to cross the line, while Chelsea’s appeals for a handball at Brighton went unexamined—though officials ultimately made the correct call in that instance.
Here, Sky Sports examines the controversial decisions from the FA Cup fourth round and how VAR might have intervened.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Manchester United secured their place in the fifth round in controversial fashion. Maguire was the hero as he headed in United’s injury-time winner, but had VAR been in use, the goal would not have stood.
When Bruno Fernandes delivered his free-kick, Maguire was already a couple of yards behind the Leicester defensive line, but the offside went unnoticed by both the linesman and the referee.
WHAT WAS SAID:
United boss Ruben Amorim admitted after the match that his side’s winning goal should not have counted.
“With VAR it was not a goal, and I think it’s important to have because it’s fair for the game,” he said.
“It’s really hard to lose one game in the last minute with an offside play, but we need and sometimes we deserve a little bit of luck.”
A furious Ruud van Nistelrooy did not hold back in his scathing critique of United’s winner, which he called “unacceptable.”
“We were not defeated in Fergie time, we are defeated in offside time,” the Leicester boss told ITV.
“VAR you have a couple of centimetres, a couple of inches. This was half a metre, clear in line. That’s a hard one to take because the team deserved extra-time. Decisions like this, at our level, are hard to swallow.
“When you prepare the whole week for this game, reacting after the Everton, and the game has been decided on a clear and obvious mistake, that is unacceptable.
“It’s unthinkable at this level and then you have nothing else to do.”
