Manchester United rode their luck as an early Scott McTominay header was enough to dump Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa out of the FA Cup, but yet again it was VAR that dominated the headlines and left fans and pundits unhappy.
The second half saw Aston Villa find the back of the net twice, but both goals were disallowed. The second was a straightforward decision after Danny Ings had run offside in the build-up of the goal.
But the first decision left fans inside and out of Old Trafford bemused. Following a lengthy VAR review, Danny Ings’ equaliser was ruled out. But what for?
Some fans took to social media to share their concerns over why the goal was disallowed.
Ultimately, the goal was chalked off because Jacob Ramsey was judged to be impeding Edinson Cavani in the build-up to the goal. But with the final decision coming after almost four minutes, concerns may be raised over how VAR is being used.
And this wasn’t the only VAR related controversy on the night. The rule that sees VAR only being available to use in Premier League grounds during the FA Cup third round fixtures has led to some negative media attention and concern amongst fans.
After the game, Alan Shearer expressed his thoughts on the situation to BBC Sport, saying: “We should not be using VAR in this game if we can’t use VAR in every FA Cup game wherever that may be.
“We were at Hull on Saturday when they should’ve had two penalties if VAR was there,” he added. “They got dumped out of the cup.”
The question remains as to whether Premier League clubs should have the luxury of VAR at their grounds whilst other teams in the lower leagues play without it. With many fans and sport personalities believing all matches should be without video assistant referee, only time will tell if there’s a change in the protocol.
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