Ex-referee Dermot Gallagher gives view on ‘subjective offside’ call which denied Manchester United goal v Fulham

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Manchester United were denied a goal against Fulham at the weekend after VAR intervened to rule out Scott McTominay’s close range strike.

It was a well executed set piece. Christian Eriksen‘s ball into the area was crossed into the six-yard box first time by Alejandro Garnacho for Scott McTominay to tap in.

The 8th minute strike had Manchester United fans hoping for a rare straightforward win. VAR then ruled it out, leaving United waiting until the 92st minute to finally grab a winner.

The reason for the goal being cancelled was Harry Maguire was alleged to be interfering with play. Broadcaster TNT Sport described the decision as a ‘subjective offside’. You know, those kind of rare decisions which only seem to go against Manchester United these days.

Dermot Gallagher verdict

The incident was inevitably discussed on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday, with former referee Dermot Gallagher asked for his view on the ruled out goal.

Gallagher said: “Definitely (the right decision). Does he attempt to play the ball, he’s not far from it, does he impact the defender? Definitely.”

He also added that in his view, the VAR team deserved extra credit for making the right call.

Harry Maguire was angry about the decision, insistent on the pitch that he was not interfering with play.

Decisions pile up against Manchester United

A study across the season so far via ESPN shows Manchester United have had more VAR overturn decisions against them than any other team in the Premier League this season.

So when you feel like events are working against Manchester United, there is proof to back it up.

Last week Manchester United had a penalty awarded against the team in the derby for a minor clash in the penalty box.

This week Ref Watch looked at a very similar situation in Liverpool’s match with Luton, where a penalty was not awarded.

Former defender Stephen Warnock told Sky Sports: “You can’t give one and not the other”.

There was another incident in City’s win over Bournemouth where one of their players was dragged down in the box, where a spot kick was not given. Sue Smith told Sky Sports: “If last week’s was a penalty, that’s a penalty.”

And that was the crux of many Manchester United fans’ complaints last week. The decision in the derby would be tolerable if it set a precedent, but one week on it has not been followed up, with a lack of consistency in officiating infuriating supporters.