Michael Owen criticized VAR for ‘letting the referee down’ during Everton’s penalty appeal in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Saturday.
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David Moyes’ team had a two-goal lead at halftime, thanks to goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure, but United managed to secure a point with a second-half comeback as Bruno Fernandes scored from a free kick, followed by Manuel Ugarte’s goal with 10 minutes remaining. ..Continue Reading
Everton had a strong case for a penalty when both Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire tugged at Ashley Young’s shirt, causing him to fall inside the box.
Referee Andy Madley initially awarded the penalty, but VAR official Matt Donohue advised him to review the decision, which was subsequently overturned after Madley viewed the incident on the pitch-side monitor.
Owen argued that Madley should have been shown multiple angles of the incident by VAR, and he feels that the shirt pull by De Ligt on Young was not adequately addressed.
‘They’ve not looked at the right angle, in my opinion,’ Owen told Premier League Productions.
‘If everything which we’ve seen in real time during the game, if that’s the angle the referee has been given then I don’t blame the referee for saying no.
‘But he’s not been given the angle, he needs to be given the angle from behind the goal, zoomed in.
‘From that angle [the referee was given by VAR] it just looks like a dive, I agree with the referee, can’t give a penalty on that evidence.
‘The VAR has let the referee down, in my opinion there. He’s not given him all the various angles that you need to form a full opinion of whether that’s a foul or not.
‘He’s given him one angle across the 18-yard box and given it to him ten times. He can see that after one replay, show him the whole lot, give him three, four, five angles.
‘This one [the angle behind the goal] is the only one he needs and it’s the only one he doesn’t get.
‘There are two angles that showed the shirt pull, not one of the replays showed the shirt pull and he’s going from side-on.
‘VAR is to blame, not the referee. VAR didn’t give him the right angle.
‘It was a really exaggerated dive from Ashley Young, let’s get it right, it was the worst dive ever. He’s pulled his shirt and his legs have gone over, it was the worst dive ever but Ashley Young is amazing at it.
‘Whether it’s a penalty or not I’m still debating, it was a tiny tug, what I’m most disappointed at is the referee hasn’t been given a chance to make an informed decision.
‘It makes me believe the referee didn’t give the penalty for shirt-pulling, because if he had seen the shirt pull he would’ve said, ‘I’ve seen a shirt pull, not that’. It makes me believe the referee has bought the dive as if it was a trip. But that’s what VAR is there for, to assist him.’
