Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct?
After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game.
– How VAR decisions have affected every Prem club in 2023-24
– VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide
In this week’s VAR Review: Kai Havertz‘s disallowed goal for Arsenal at Aston Villa, and why Gabriel Jesus‘ penalty claim was so different to the VAR spot kick given to Crystal Palace against Liverpool. Plus, the rest of the big talking points.
Possible goal: Havertz handball
What happened: Kai Havertz thought he had equalised in the 90th minute, firing home from close range after a battle with Matty Cash. As soon as the ball crossed the line, referee Jarred Gillett blew his whistle for handball against the Arsenal forward. The VAR, Michael Salisbury, checked to see if it was the correct decision (watch here.)
VAR decision: No goal.
VAR review: The award of the penalty itself was quickly cleared by the VAR, this was about a possible foul in the buildup.
It seemed to be a fairly straight-forward overturn, but took an age both at Stockley Park during the initial check process and when Madley was at the monitor for the review.
The VAR chose a poor angle to first present the evidence to the referee, and it appeared to put some doubt in Madley’s mind.
VAR review: If Luiz on Jesus wasn’t a VAR intervention, what makes this so different? It’s all about the way Quansah makes the challenge and how that brings Mateta down. Every challenge has to be considered on its merits; if X is a spot kick it doesn’t meant Y should be too.
The referee has seen the two players coming together, but not the nature of the contact as it’s on the blindside of both himself and the assistant. Quansah makes contact across Mateta — with his right knee into the left thigh before then also kicking his right calf. Mateta has no chance of remaining on his feet from the tackle, so a penalty was the correct outcome of the review. The Jesus incident did not have the same level of impact from defender upon attacker.
While the first review took Madley some time at the monitor, he quickly accepted this as a penalty.
VAR review: The VAR wouldn’t get involved to cancel a goal for a possible penalty, but it came about because of a great piece of refereeing from Madley. He identifies that Jones has been fouled by Joel Ward after making the pass to Salah, and puts his whistle to his lips for the spot kick. Madley sees Salah has a great chance to score and holds his whistle, with the Egypt international finding the back of the net.
If Salah had missed and the penalty awarded it’s likely Ward, who was already on a yellow, would have been booked — which would have put Palace down to nine men after the earlier red card for Jordan Ayew. Madley could still have shown the second yellow for a reckless challenge without giving the penalty, of course, but chose not to. The second yellow card for Ayew was for stopping a promising attack with Liverpool on the break, and not just for the tackle itself.
After last week’s criticism directed at Simon Hooper after he wrongly cancelled the advantage for Manchester City against Tottenham Hotspur, there has been a series of positive advantages played by officials this week which won’t get the same attention. Michael Salisbury didn’t blow after Guglielmo Vicario handled a backpass against West Ham United, allowing James Ward-Prowse to score at the second attempt. And there was a foul on Kyle Walker in the build-up to Man City’s equaliser at Luton Town which referee Tim Robinson played advantage on.
VAR review: As we saw with the Cash incident in the Arsenal game, a player’s expected body position and what they are doing are crucial.
While the ball came some distance, Slimane was jumping with two teammates and all had their arms in a justifiable position for that action.
The VAR won’t get involved in this kind of situation in the Premier League.
