- Everton were denied a penalty in stoppage time against Man United on Saturday
- Fans were outraged after the VAR invited the referee to review their initial call
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Can INEOS really be judged after 12 months?
Fans were furious with the VAR after Everton were controversially denied a late penalty in their 2-2 draw with Man United on Saturday.
Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire pulled Ashley Young down in the box and Andy Madley pointed straight to the spot.
But, after almost a four-minute review, the VAR recommended the referee to head to the monitor, which was met with groans by the home fans at Goodison Park.
Nowadays, such an act is almost a formality to hand the on-field referee a chance to overturn their original decision.
And, as the script goes, after a long look at multiple replays of the incident, Madley walked away from the monitor and decided to deny the Toffees a penalty.
Former United player Michael Owen was not a fan of the call, immediately taking to social media to argue that the referee was not shown appropriate footage of the incident during the pitch-side review.
Everton were controversially denied a late penalty in their 2-2 draw against Manchester United
Ashley Young appeared to be fouled in the penalty area by Harry Maguire or Matthijs de Ligt
The VAR recommended Andy Madley to review his original decision to give Everton a penalty
He said: ‘I’m a VAR fan but that last minute penalty was a mess. Maguire wasn’t the culprit yet VAR repeatedly offered the ref one angle and failed to show the shirt pull from De Ligt.’
Likewise, fans displayed a similar disapproval towards the decision, with one describing the Premier League’s refereeing standard as ‘miserably bad’.
One fan wrote on X: ‘That is a disgrace! Should easily be a penalty! VAR not even showing the angle showing the shirt being pulled!!!’
Another said: ‘I’m a United fan but I just don’t understand how you can overturn that original call and say that it was clearly and obviously wrong. Refereeing and VAR in this league is miserably bad and inconsistent.
A third commented: ‘That was a clear penalty denied. VAR is useless.’
Shortly after full-time, the Premier League released a statement on X.
It read: ‘VAR checked the referee’s call of penalty to Everton for a challenge by Maguire on Young and deemed that no foul had been committed and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned the original decision and play restarted with a drop ball.’
The decision denied Everton the chance to make it 3-2. A win for David Moyes’ side would have seen them leapfrog Crystal Palace and Tottenham in the table, moving up to 12th place.
Fans took to social media to express their outrage at the call, which took a four-minute review
The VAR also took an age to decide if Everton’s opening goal was onside but eventually gave it
But the drama surrounding this late penalty was not the first controversial incident of the game.
Beto’s opening goal for the Toffees was also scrutinised in a three-minute VAR review, but the decision eventually fell in the hosts’ favour.
Beto was onside when he was slotted through by Abdoulaye Doucoure to put the Toffees 1-0 up from close range.
However, following a corner moments earlier, the striker was in an offside position as he stood in front of Andre Onana.
The VAR was initially unsure whether Beto was blocking the United goalkeeper’s view, which led to a long delay, but the goal was eventually given.
Soon after, Everton doubled their lead through Doucoure, and looked poised to cruise to victory in third gear against a struggling United side.
But Bruno Fernandes halved Everton’s lead in the second-half, finding the back of the net from a free-kick. The Red Devils, revitalised after their captain’s goal, mounted the pressure on their opponents and eventually netted an equaliser through Manuel Ugarte.
Everton would have gone four points clear of United if they were to snatch all three points on Saturday. Instead, they remained 14th in the table, but widened their gap to the relegation zone to 14 points.
