Premier League VAR panel reach verdict on decision to cancel Everton penalty vs Man Utd

Premier League VAR panel reach verdict on decision to cancel Everton penalty vs Man Utd

Before VAR stepped in, Everton believed they had been given a late penalty against Manchester United, and an impartial panel says the intervention was appropriate.

When Ashley Young fell down after what looked to be a shirt tug from Harry Maguire, the Toffees believed they had been given the ideal chance to win the match at Goodison Park.

However, the referee was persuaded by VAR to look at the screen, and the penalty was revoked after viewing a replay. After a late comeback by the Manchester team, the match ended 2-2.

Ruben Amorim said it would have been a “soft penalty” during the call, but David Moyes believed the initial decision appeared to be correct. Naturally, the two managers were split on the ruling.

He said: “I’ve had a look at it, and [Maguire] undoubtedly pulls his jersey after that, you have to make your own mind up. I thought the on-field decision looked the correct decision.

“I was a bit surprised [the referee] was asked to go to VAR because I thought it looked difficult to change your mind on that. But when you go to VAR, it’s as if the people who are watching on a screen understand more. It went against us today. I’m not going to complain too much about it but today it just didn’t go for us.”

However the KMI panel, created by the Premier League three years ago to assess major refereeing decisions, believes the official got the decision bang on, reports ESPN. The KMI panel assess all VAR calls and their remit is to cast an eye over penalties, red cards, offsides and anything else that would be decided by the referee and could have an impact on the game.

Prior to 2022, it was Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), who govern the referees, that would collate the stats. However the clubs argued that the figures were skewed in favour of the officials, which led to the creation of the KMI panel

They also voted on the decision to award West Ham a late penalty against United in October, which allowed them to score a late winner. That resulted in Erik ten Hag being sacked days later and the panel believes the original call of no penalty was in fact the right one.

They said: “A collision between two players challenging for a loose ball, the referee is in a great position and decides to play on. The panel were unanimous in their support of the referee’s original call of no penalty.”