Manchester United have had SEVEN goals against them disallowed by VAR – the most in the Premier League – as rival fans fume over Jordan Ayew’s goal against them being disallowed
- Man United profited from two crucial VAR calls in their win at Crystal Palace
- Wilfried Zaha wasn’t awarded a first-half penalty when fouled by Victor Lindelof
- And Jordan Ayew saw a second-half equalised ruled off for a marginal offside
- United have seen more VAR decisions go their way this season than anyone else
- Seven opposition goals against United have been cancelled out by VAR
- Including penalties, 10 decisions have gone in United’s favour with two against
The Premier League has become used to VAR controversy this season and Thursday night was no exception.
Crystal Palace found themselves wronged as two decisions went in favour of Manchester United at Selhurst Park, leading to their chairman Steve Parish asking on Twitter if the technology was broken.
Palace felt they should have been awarded a first-half penalty when Wilfried Zaha was brought to the floor by Victor Lindelof but the VAR officials at Stockley Park thought differently.
Crystal Palace felt like they should have had a penalty when Wilfried Zaha was brought down
VAR investigated the incident but decided it was not worthy to award a penalty to Palace
Manchester United opened the scoring within minutes of Zaha’s appeal for a penalty kick
Jordan Ayew thought he had equalised in the second-half but VAR ruled him marginally offside
But the Ghanaian forward was adjudged to have been a fraction offside after the video assistant referee intervened
And after the break, Jordan Ayew thought he’d equalised for Palace only to be judged offside by the slightest of margins.
In news that will delight conspiracy theorists everywhere, the stats show that United have benefitted most from VAR calls this season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team have seen seven opposition goals cancelled out by VAR and have seen 10 overturned verdicts go in their favour overall.
Only two VAR adjudications have gone against them all season when it comes to disallowing goals or overturning on-pitch penalty decisions, according to an analysis by ESPN.
In terms of decision relating to goals, the marginal offside call against Ayew followed a series of other VAR calls going in United’s favour this season.
Ayew’s disallowed goal was the seventh scored against United this season to be disallowed
That is the same number as Brighton and Southampton with everyone else profiting less
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was left fuming by the decisions and took to Twitter
Against Liverpool in October, Sadio Mane saw a goal ruled out for handball, while in the reverse fixture at Anfield in January Roberto Firmino saw a goal chalked off after David de Gea was fouled by Virgil van Dijk.
In United’s win over Chelsea in February, the Blues saw two goals disallowed by VAR – Kurt Zouma’s goal was ruled out after Cesar Azpilicueta fouled Brandon Williams. Later, an Olivier Giroud goal was disallowed for offside.
In their home match with Watford in February, a goal scored by Troy Deeney was wiped after Craig Dawson handled in the build-up.
At Everton in early March, a late goal scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson was disallowed for offside.
In terms of penalty decisions, United were awarded two by VAR during their win at Norwich in October – one for a foul and one for handball – and they were given one at Manchester City in December after Bernardo Silva was adjudged to have fouled Marcus Rashford.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have seen 10 VAR overturns go in their favour with two against
Kurt Zouma’s goal for Chelsea in February was ruled out after Azpilicueta fouled Williams
Norwich’s Todd Cantwell (left) was penalised by VAR for this handball as Fred’s shot struck him
The penalty awarded against Cantwell was the correct decision by the letter of the law
Rashford was brought down by Man City’s Bernardo Silva (right) for a penalty awarded by VAR
Bernardo’s tackle, making contact hip-to-hip, wasn’t necessary with Rashford going nowhere
The two VAR calls that have gone against United came against Arsenal in September when a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goal originally ruled out for offside stood after a check, and against Tottenham last month when a penalty awarded for a foul on Bruno Fernandes was overturned.
United’s tally of seven opposition goals cancelled out by VAR is the joint-most in the Premier League along with Brighton and Southampton, just ahead of Tottenham’s six.
By contrast, seven teams – Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Manchester City and Watford – have only seen one opposition goal cancelled out by VAR.
Meanwhile, Norwich, Sheffield United, West Ham and Wolves seem to have been most wronged by VAR calls on goals and penalties overall.
West Ham have seen five goals they’ve scored cancelled by VAR and four opposition goals that were originally not given then awarded after VAR checks.
Sheffield United have also seen five goals they’ve scored ruled out and Wolves have seen four.
