Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho could not resist another swipe at ‘lucky’ Manchester United after they escaped a penalty against Crystal Palace and then saw a goal from their opponents ruled out by VAR.
United secured a 2-0 win against Palace on Thursday that continues their fight for a place in the top four, though they survived a scare in the game.
Just before Marcus Rashford scored the first go, Wilfried Zaha appeared to be brought down inside the box but VAR did nothing, while a goal from Palace was cancelled for a marginal offside call.
The Red devils have benefited from the most overturned VAR decisions in England this campaign, and been given the most spot-kicks, and Mourinho feels Solskjaer’s side have benefited much more from VAR than Spurs
When it was put to him that Spurs could help Manchester United seal a top-four finish by beating Leicester City, Mourinho said: ‘No. First of all I’m not looking to that fight, I don’t know mathematically what is possible for them.
‘I think they play the last game is between them [Leicester and United] and I don’t know if things can be decided there. I don’t know if Chelsea is in a safe position – I don’t think they are. I think they still are in this fight.
‘If Manchester United does it, they will do it by playing very well in the second part of the season and when you play well you deserve, and on top of that everybody knows that they were a bit lucky.
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‘More than one time, luck that others have not had. We didn’t have, for example, that luck.’
When quizzed on whether those VAR and penalty decisions are needed, the Portuguese manager continued: ‘But VAR shouldn’t be about that. VAR should be just simple, pure, clear decisions.
‘The space for the mistake is the space of man, on the pitch, having to make very difficult decisions, 200 miles per hour, different angles of vision. That is the mistake that we learn how to respect in future.
‘Sometimes it’s difficult to accept, but they are the mistakes that you understand because everyone makes mistakes in the game: coaches, referees, players. We all make mistakes.’
