New VAR details confirm worst Everton fears over Man Utd penalty controversy
With the contentious decision to deny his team a penalty against Manchester United, Everton manager David Moyes has seen his worst nightmares come true.
Ashley Young went down inside the area three minutes into stoppage time, and referee Andrew Madley indicated the location.After being held to 2-2 by a determined United, Everton appeared to have been given the opportunity to win Saturday’s Premier League match.
Replays revealed that the England international made very little contact to send the Everton winger to the ground, despite Adley awarding the penalty on the grounds that Maguire had fouled Young. However, Mattijs de Ligt’s shirt pulls—one on Young’s side and another on his back—were what Moyes and many others thought the penalty had been imposed for.
“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,” a journalist at Moyes’ post-match news conference read out the Premier League’s statement on the event.
Play resumed with a drop ball after the referee reversed the initial ruling.
“So, did they look at the shirt pull?” questioned a perplexed Moyes. Did they mention the shirt pull on him?” Having been told ‘no’ by the same reporter, the Everton manager has now even more reason to be unhappy.
ESPN explain that because Madley was called to the pitch-side monitor to evaluate the potential foul from Maguire, the video assistant referee, Matt Donohue, couldn’t unilaterally endorse handing the penalty for another reason, such as De Ligt yanking Young’s shirt.
The VAR had to evaluate whether De Ligt’s actions constituted a clear and evident error by Madley, given the referee didn’t award the possible foul on-field. Holding a player’s shirt isn’t exactly an offence, as VAR take into account how long a shirt has been kept for and if the player goes to ground in a fashion which is appropriate to the act.
Should Everton have been granted a penalty?
Ashley Young’s shirt was twice pulled by Matthijs de Ligt, but Harry Maguire’s possible foul was examined instead (Image: Getty Images).
Young threw himself to the field in an excessive manner, according to Donohue, who determined that De Ligt’s possession of the shirt was “fleeting.”
Consequently, that particular occurrence did not qualify as a clear and apparent fault that would have resulted in Everton receiving a penalty.
Supporting a stand-alone review of De Ligt’s action would have been challenging given comparable instances and rulings this season.
Dermot Gallagher, a former Premier League referee, told Sky Sports that he thinks Madley was shown the “wrong angles,” but it didn’t apply to this particular event.
Since that was the purpose of the review—not De Ligt’s shirt pulls—the VAR actually showed Madley the precise angles required for Maguire’s possible foul.
Naturally, Madley probably still saw the two shirt pulls on screen and decided not to ask for further angles, and VAR hadn’t told him to look into De Ligt’s possible foul.
The upcoming ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ episode may provide fans with a glimpse into the decision-making process.
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