The Premier League was once again rocked by the big VAR story during the exciting clash between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest.
With the game still on and United clinging desperately to a tense 3-2 lead, the decisive flashpoint of the match came when Matheus Cunha restored the Red Devils’ advantage to 2-1 in the most controversial of circumstances.
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The ball clearly hit the arm of United’s Brian Mbeumo, but the blocked shot bounced directly into the path of Cunha, who scored the ball into the net.
Although a goal was initially awarded on the pitch, it appears that the goal was destined to be annulled due to VAR intervention.
Gary Neville slams referee’s decision
VAR officials advised the on-field referee to review the incident on a pitchside monitor.
However, in a rare and shocking turn of events, the referee completely overruled VAR’s advice and stuck to his original decision, conceding the goal.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was left completely speechless by the referee and slammed the call live on TV, saying: “Honestly, it’s ridiculous. The VAR result was clear. It shows the player handballed. He watched it for three minutes and the referee watched it for another minute. I can’t believe what I just saw. That was a handball. I don’t know what to say.”
Another week, another controversial VAR decision in the Premier League.
This latest incident has added significant fuel to the fire over refereeing consistency in England’s top flight, especially after the huge controversy over the disallowance of West Ham’s stoppage-time equalizer against Arsenal.
United are currently 3-2 up in what has been a chaotic end-to-end second half, with Cunha’s highly debatable goal potentially the deciding factor.
Brian Mbeumo made it 3-1 in the 75th minute, but a fine finish from Morgan Gibbs-White two minutes later made Forest 3-2.
Regardless of the score at the final whistle, this controversial refereeing decision is sure to be the biggest topic of conversation.
