Harry Maguire goal shouldn’t have stood as Man Utd benefit from FA Cup rule change

The English defender slipped unnoticed at the far post, where Bruno Fernandes found him with a lofted free-kick from just inside Leicester’s half.

However, replays revealed that Maguire was offside in the lead-up to his goal, positioned a yard or two ahead of the Leicester defense.

If this had been a Premier League match, VAR would have ruled out the goal, but this FA Cup match did not use VAR.

This is due to a decision made before this year’s tournament that VAR would only be implemented from the fifth round onwards.

In a statement released in December 2024, the FA said: “Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will only be used in the 2024-25 Emirates FA Cup from the Fifth Round onwards.

“It has been agreed that VAR will be utilised for every match in the Fifth Round of the competition through to the Final at Wembley Stadium, and will not be in operation for the Third and Fourth Rounds.

“VAR has only been used in the Emirates FA Cup previously for matches at Wembley Stadium and at Premier League grounds due to the infrastructure, workforce and costs that are required for its operation.

“This decision ensures that there is a consistent refereeing approach for all clubs taking part in the same stage of the competition.”

Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy bemoaned the decision afterwards, saying it wasn’t acceptable “at our level”.

When asked if his team lost the match in ‘Fergie time’, he replied: “We were not defeated in Fergie Time, we were defeated in Offside Time.

“This [VAR] wasn’t necessary. VAR you have for a couple of centimetres or inches. This was half a metre, clear in line. It’s a hard one to take, because the team deserves the draw and extra time.”

He added: “We deserved to go on to extra time and go through the battle and maybe penalties. These mistakes at our level are hard to swallow.”

Man United will find out their FA Cup fifth round opponents on Monday.