Alan Shearer thinks Everton were wronged by VAR on Saturday afternoon.
Tensions were high at Goodison Park on Saturday when Manchester United drew 2-2 with Everton in a game that didn’t see the Reds wake up until the 70th minute.
United were trailing by 2-goals at that point until Bruno Fernandes struck a wonderful free kick to give his side a new lease of life.
It didn’t take long for United to equalise through Manuel Ugarte, who scored his first goal for the club with a stunning half-volley.
The game had yet to reach its maximum level of drama because that came in stoppage-time when Everton were denied a penalty by referee Andy Madley and VAR.
David Moyes and Ruben Amorim disagreed with the decision after the match and it’s one they will never be able to agree on.
Uncertainty was met with relief because it meant United had come away from Goodison Park with a point. A sign of the times that we’re coming away pleased with a point.
Alan Shearer slams ‘mind-boggling’ penalty review
Former Premier League striker Alan Shearer has criticised VAR and referee Andy Madley after Everton were not given a late penalty against Manchester United.
Young went down softly inside the box and a penalty was initially given by Madley, with the scores tied at 2-2 heading into the final minutes.
Madley was told to check the pitch-side monitor during a review which saw the goal eventually overturned, much to the frustration of David Moyes.
Speaking on Match of the Day live broadcast, Shearer argued VAR did not show Madley a good enough angle.
“There’s two clear pulls on the shirt here from De Ligt. There really is. It’s clear to see it. The referee gives the penalty there, and now he’s sent over to the screen,” Shearer said.
“But what is mind-boggling for me is they don’t show him the correct angles! They show him that angle there, that angle there, and straight away he’s off.
“That would be more confusing for me and I agree with David Moyes [comments below], it’s as if they’re trying to force the referee into a decision and for me, they get that wrong. It’s not a clear and obvious error.”
Premier League explanation over Young penalty raises questions
The Premier League released a statement on X to justify VAR’s decision.
However, they did not mention that Matthijs de Ligt pulled Young’s shirt. The focus on whether Harry Maguire committed a foul or not.
The statement 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.”
It seems like every week there’s VAR-related headlines. More often than not it’s negative too.
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