Aussie ref’s five-minute VAR farce in stoppage time PL chaos … as Ange handed big boost
Aston Villa escaped with a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday after the hosts were denied a stoppage-time winner by a prolonged VAR check.
Australian referee Jarred Gillett and VAR official Tony Harrington spent five minutes and 37 seconds – the longest VAR check in Premier League history – debating whether West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos’ effort hit the arm of Tomas Soucek on its way into the net.
The replays were inconclusive, with a post obscuring the view of a sea of arms and legs on the goal line.
But Mavropanos’ goal was eventually ruled out, one of three chalked off for the Hammers, to spare Villa from a damaging defeat.
Nicolo Zaniolo had equalised for Villa after Michail Antonio headed West Ham into a first-half lead.
West Ham boss David Moyes was bitterly disappointed with the string of VAR decisions against his team.
“I’ve got nothing to say on VAR, contact Howard [Webb, referees’ chief] yourself,” Moyes said.
He added: “Burnley last week, Freiburg, and now two today have gone against us. It’s hard to take.
“If VAR thinks it’s right it must be right. I think football people see things differently. We’ve had two hit people’s arms in the last week and not one went for us.”
He also said: “It’s what VAR do, it’s their decision not ours, we can’t do anything about it. It’s there to do the job.”
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Villa manager Unai Emery added: “The referee decided it was handball. We didn’t control the game in the first half.
“We changed tactics in the second half and got chances to score a goal. In the end we did score. We have to accept it.”
Fourth-placed Villa are now three points clear of fifth-placed
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