Some questionable decisions came from the weekend’s action in the English Premier League, with the controversy surrounding the use of VAR heightening during yesterday’s match between West Ham United and Manchester United, and perhaps even more notably the game on the South Coast where Brighton hosted Leicester. The use of VAR has been a talking point since its introduction on the first of June last year, and in each fixture there seems to arise a talking point that starts many a debate between fans and pundits alike.
In the Olympic Stadium at 2pm, West Ham welcomed a Manchester United side looking to bounce back from a shock midweek loss in Switzerland to Young Boys in their opening Champions League match of the season. A side boasting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho started the match at Wankdorf Stadium in Bern. The Red Devils made a promising start with their newly re-signed star striker Ronaldo scoring early on to give the English team a positive start. However, the tables turned after Wan-Bissaka’s 35th minute red card for a dangerous challenge on Christopher Martins saw Manchester United down to 10 men for the remainder of the match. Young Boys scored two second-half goals, the latter in dramatic fashion after substitute Jesse Lingard made a mistake in the 95th minute attempting a back-pass to David De Gea which allowed Jordan Siebatcheu to grab all three points for the Swiss side. Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær gained criticism for his substitutions in Bern, bringing Lingard on to replace Ronaldo in an attempt to bring energy late on to United’s attack and try to stop the Young Boys’ surge. However, this decision did not work in his favour on this occasion after Lingard’s late mistake. West Ham also travelled mid-week, picking up three-points in Croatia, beating Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 with goals Michail Antonio and Declan Rice. Antonio had scored five goals in as many games so far this season and became the Irons’ all-time leading Premier League goalscorer last month. But, West Ham were without the suspended Antonio for the match against Manchester United, relying on others to carry the gauntlet in his absence.
Ronaldo opened the scoring for the visitors, before Saïd Benrahma equalised for the hosts after his shot was deflected in. The second-half saw 3 if not 4 claims for penalties, 1 by the home side, the Czech midfielder Tomáš Souček being tackled by Wan-Bissaka who made no contact with the ball, and 3 claims from the away side’s number 7, before the 5th claim for a penalty was given only after a check from VAR. Manchester United’s Ronaldo was brought down three times, claiming fouls, and perhaps had a very strong case with two of the challenges. Ronaldo was challenged firstly by Vladimír Coufal and later on by ex-Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma, neither West Ham players made contact with the ball but both appeals were dismissed by referee Martin Atkinson. The introduction of Lingard proved a blessing rather than a curse this time for the Norwegian manager Solskjær, as the ex-West-Ham loanee scored a superb solo goal, perfectly placing the ball into the far top-corner to score what would eventually be the winning goal for his team. Late-drama saw a Luke Shaw interception, dismissed by Atkinson, reviewed by VAR which resulted in the referee checking the touchline monitor and subsequently giving the home side a desperately needed late penalty in stoppage time. David Moyes made the quick decision to call over his club captain and usually reliable penalty-taker Mark Noble from the bench, and substituted him for the lively Jarrod Bowen. Noble had previously scored all of his last 10 penalty kicks, therefore to many Moyes’ decision will have been the obvious choice perhaps, given the fact that West Ham have missed 4 of their last 5 penalties. Noble stepped up, only for David De Gea to dive to his left and get a glove on the ball to become his team’s saviour. The away end erupted, whilst the home fans looked on in disbelief, having lost all hope of a point from the fixture. There could be no complaints from Manchester United fans on the late penalty decision by VAR and the referee, as Shaw’s arm was clearly outstretched as the ball hit him. However, many were quick to question the West Ham manager’s decision in bringing on a late substitute to take the kick which would have seen the home side’s unbeaten start to the season carry on. The argument against the decision is that Noble wasn’t expecting to come on so late into stoppage time and therefore wasn’t prepared physically nor mentally. Coming on to take the penalty in what would have been possibly his only touch in the match, is not a wise choice according to many supporters, especially given the penalty shoot-out decision of England manager Gareth Southgate in the Euro 2020 Final against Italy, who put on two late substitutes in the form of Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Sancho to try to score what were arguably England’s most important penalties in 55 years. Neither had played any part in the match, and neither scored – lesson learnt. Moyes defended his decision [to bring Noble on] in his post-match interview to Sky Sports, and surely had the West Ham midfielder scored, everyone would have been praising the decision. That’s football management for you – ups and downs as Solskjær found out last week.
Brighton & Hove Albion welcomed Leicester City in the Premier League’s other 2pm kick-off, in a match tainted with controversy. The home side had started the season excellently, winning four of their first five matches and started positively once again. Neal Maupay put the hosts ahead with a 35th-minute penalty controversially awarded for a Jannik Vestergaard handball. Replays showed the Leicester City defender being held back by the Seagulls forward, yet VAR failed to spot this causing anger amosts the Foxes’ fans. Danny Welbeck gave Brighton a two-goal lead with his second-half header before Jamie Vardy replied for the visitors in his 250th Premier League appearance. Ademola Lookman seemingly equalised for the Foxes in the 67th minute, before VAR ruled the goal offside as Harvey Barnes was deemed to be interfering with play and blocking the Brighton goalkeeper’s line of vision from an offside position. Leicester were denied a goal once again, after Wilfred Ndidi nodded the ball into the back of the net only for VAR to review it. Ruling yet another goal offside for the away side, this decision angered Leicester City fans even more, as Barnes was once again deemed to be in an offside position, yet seemed to have no interference this time around. Another dubious decision by VAR.
VAR has brought many positives to football at the top-level. But, since its introduction to the Premier League, barely a match has been played in which there hasn’t been a decision questioned, and yesterday’s fixtures were no exception.
KM
THE CONDITIONAL 