THIS HAS GONE VAR TOO FAR
<M<IP B@:B# <M<IP >F8C# <M<IP >8D< Matic cold over system
NEMANJA MATIC and his Manchester United team-mates are going cold on VAR.
United cruised into the FA Cup quarterfinals thanks to two goals from striker Romelu Lukaku to sink Huddersfield.
Lukaku’s brace rendered the Video Assistant Referee’s decision to wipe out a first-half strike from Juan Mata meaningless, as United booked a home showdown with Brighton.
But the game was still shrouded in controversy as the off-field referee took two minutes to decide Mata was offside as he latched on to Ashley Young’s pass, despite replays showing he was level.
Cue slow hand-clapping from fans, a bemused conversation between the rival managers and more confusion regarding a system brought in to supposedly stamp it out.
Standing around on the pitch waiting for a decision is all well and good in the warmer months.
But Matic reckons the process needs speeding up when the weather is cold, because it will put stars at risk of getting injured.
The Serbian midfielder said: “We are not sure it was offside but ok, the referee has made a decision, they saw it on TV.
“We just waited for the referee’s decision. We knew that he waited for the people to see it on TV, to analyse it.
“It was a little bit strange because you have to wait two minutes to see what Wagner’s men, who fought hard and dominated possession at times without having that killer touch in front of goal.
But beating relegation is all that matters to the Yorkshire outfit and Lossl has urged them to take the same battling form into their remaining league games, starting with next weekend’s crunch trip to rock-bottom West Brom.
He said: “This is the FA Cup and it is about winning and going through, so it was not a success.
“But we played a very good game and we have to be proud of that. We have to take that on and I am sure if we’re going to play like this in the last 11 games, we stand a good chance.
“We need to use what we can from this game. We showed character ahead of what is a very important run coming up.
“The next game is always the biggest. You’re never going to get me to say anything else. It’s always about the next game and now we have to look forward to West Brom. Every game is a final now.”