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.
In this week’s VAR Review: Would Morgan Rogers‘ goal at Manchester United have counted had the referee not blown the whistle? Were the red cards for Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano MartÃnez and Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch correct? And did the VAR miss any handball spot kicks on the final matchday?
Possible goal: Foul by Rogers on Bayindir
What happened: Aston Villa were on the attack in the 72nd minute when Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire nodded the ball back to his goalkeeper, Altay Bayindir. The 27-year-old hesitated slightly, allowing the ball to spin in his gloves, and Morgan Rogers nipped in to steal it. But before he could put the ball into the empty net, referee Thomas Bramall blew for a foul.
VAR decision: No intervention possible.
Verdict: The VAR was locked out of the decision, because as soon as Bramall blew his whistle the play was dead — anything that happened after that point, including a possible goal, is void. The referee should have waited, but he was too quick to penalise the foul.
The wording on the law about a goalkeeper being in control of the ball is clunky. It defines it as: “The ball is between the hands or between the hand and any surface (e.g. ground, own body) or by touching it with any part of the hands or arms, except if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper has made a save.”
VAR review: Last weekend, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson escaped a DOGSO red card in the FA Cup after handling the ball outside the area as Manchester City‘s Erling Haaland ran through on goal.
The referee at Wembley was Stuart Attwell, and he was on VAR for this decision. Yet we shouldn’t expect both to result in the same outcome — especially if the general consensus was that not sending off Henderson was incorrect.
VAR review: Maatsen may not have been attempting to challenge the Manchester United attacker, but he stood on his boot and that caused him to go to ground.
Just like when a defender clips a striker’s heels from behind, intent to cause a foul isn’t important: Amad went to ground because of the contact from Maatsen.
Verdict: With clear evidence of contact from defender on attacker, there’s no likelihood the VAR is going to get involved to overturn such a penalty.
VAR review: A close call for Lacroix, as there appeared to be some movement of the elbow to get in the way of Salah’s shot.
However, the ball came off the Crystal Palace player’s lower arm, around the wrist area, which was very close to his side.
Verdict: Had the ball hit the defender’s elbow this should have been a penalty for deliberate handball — though it wouldn’t have been a red card for denying a goal as the goalkeeper was directly behind Lacroix.
VAR review: We’ve seen a few DOGSO red cards this season where the attacker has been brought down close to the halfway line — William Saliba, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Mateo Kovacic being the notable ones.
The question was whether the touch by Kamada was too heavy, meaning there was a likelihood that goalkeeper Alisson Becker would have been able to intercept the ball first?
Alisson was out of his area (though starting to move back) and the ball was bouncing through with a degree of speed — and that did create some doubt for a red card.
Compare that to Saliba’s red card vs. Bournemouth, given through VAR, where the ball was coming to a stop halfway to goal and goalkeeper David Raya was backtracking fully into his area. Because of this, Kamada had less of a scoring chance than Evanilson, when he was brought down by Saliba.
Verdict: Had the referee produced a yellow card, the VAR may well have supported that due to the possibility that Alisson would have intercepted before Kamada could shoot. That doubt wasn’t present on the Saliba red card, which is why there was a VAR intervention to upgrade to red.
It’s borderline for the VAR to step in on the Gravenberch sending off, and the Liverpool midfielder is probably a little unfortunate. It’s somewhat moot, however, as Gravenberch was already on a caution so would still have been sent off had the referee produced a yellow card. Either sanction would have seen the midfielder dismissed and the given a one-match suspension.
However, as it was a straight red card Liverpool would have the option to appeal. The quirk is that the suspension would be removed, rather than the red downgraded to a yellow and the ban staying in place — though an appeal it’s highly unlikely to be successful
Possible penalty: Handball by Rice
What happened: Yukinari Sugawara hit a shot from distance in the 20th minute, with the ball coming off Declan Rice and going behind for a corner. It was checked for a spot kick by the VAR, Graham Scott.
VAR decision: No penalty.
VAR review: Premier League referees have been consistent throughout the season in only penalising handball when the arm has been fully extended away from the body, high, or there’s a deliberate act. But does that fit with the potential Rice handball?
One of the considerations for the VAR is the position of the arm when the shot is taken, and where it is when it’s hit by the ball. So, if the arm hasn’t moved, and is an expected position for the player’s movement, then it shouldn’t be a penalty. And this is where there was a question for Rice.
After Sugawara hit the shot, Rice had his left arm behind his back.
Rice did have his arm close to his body, but it then came up into a raised position and blocked the shot.
Verdict: There were only nine handball penalties in the Premier League this season, far fewer than the rest of the top leagues. The Key Match Incidents Panel hasn’t ruled that a VAR has missed one either, though it did feel the referee should have given Nottingham Forest a spot kick against Wolverhampton Wanderers in January.
Handball is in a better place in England than it is on the continent, though there’s an argument that, in cases such as this, the interpretation is a little too liberal and it should be a spot kick.
Some factual parts of this article include information provided by the Premier League and PGMOL.
