Premier League: Trio of VAR take-backs creates a tempest
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND— Festive spirit was in short supply from video assistant referees in the Premier League on Saturday as three goals were ruled out for marginal offside calls, exacerbating frustration about the technology being used for the first time in England this season.
On a day when Manchester United moved up to fifth place with a 2-0 win at Burnley and West Ham fired manager Manuel Pellegrini after a 2-1 home loss to Leicester, much of the debate in stadiums and on social media centred on disgruntlement at the forensic geometry being used to call on tight offside decisions — even if the correct calls were ultimately made.
“If VAR was a manager, he’d have been sacked weeks ago,” former England captain Gary Lineker tweeted after Norwich striker Teemu Pukki had a goal disallowed for offside that required the VAR in a room outside London to apply lines and dots on the screen to judge. Last-place Norwich eventually drew Tottenham 2-2.
That came hours after Brighton defender Dan Burn was adjudged offside by a matter of millimetres before scoring in a 2-0 win over Bournemouth, and then Wilfried Zaha had the same call against him — or rather his armpit — after he set up Max Meyer’s “goal” for Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw at Southampton.
“This is nonsense and it’s damaging the spectacle,” tweeted Arlo White, who calls matches for NBC.
Narrow offside calls, and the microscopic way they are judged, have been the most contentious part of the VAR system brought in this season.
SECOND-STRING LEICESTER:
Top scorer Jamie Vardy, whose wife just gave birth, was one of the first-choice players sitting out for Leicester, which still had enough to win at the Olympic Stadium in Pellegrini’s last match with the Hammers.
Kelechi Iheanacho and Demarai Gray scored for Leicester, either side of an equalizer by Pablo Fornals, as the visitors moved 10 points behind Liverpool having played two games more.
After the game, West Ham announced Pellegrini had been fired. West Ham is just a point and a place above the relegation zone.
UNITED ON THE RISE: Anthony Martial picked up his third goal in two games and 10th in all competitions this season to help Man United to a 2-0 win at Burnley as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team climbed to fifth, a point behind Chelsea.
United profited from a defensive error by left-back Charlie Taylor as Andreas Pereira played in Martial to score in the 44th minute.
Marcus Rashford added the second goal on the break deep into stoppage time.
Fourth-place Chelsea plays its game in hand on United against Arsenal on Sunday.