Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg wrote in his Daily Mail column that the absence of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final tie cost Swansea City the match.
He began his column by pointing out that the penalty shouldn’t have been given and Aguero’s headed winner was offside:
“Manchester City’s second and third goals should not have stood. For the second, a penalty awarded for a foul on Raheem Sterling, the defender clearly got a touch on the ball.”
“Then Sergio Aguero was offside for his winning goal. VAR should not have been needed to get those decisions right.”
The absence of VAR was the main talking point after the game as surely the goals would have been ruled out on second viewing. Cameron Carter-Vickers got a vital touch on the ball but referee on the day, Andre Marriner quickly pointed to the penalty spot.
The FA insisted that only Premier League club stadiums would use VAR in the competition, despite the fact that there’s a large number of former Premier League clubs competing in the lower divisions, not to mention the lack of fairness in that decision.
REVEALED – Swansea City were the side who piloted VAR for the Premier League in 2017 – yet the FA chose not to use the Liberty Stadium's available technology for controversial Man City cup-tie. https://t.co/8ho9zRQcKC via @MailSport
— Phil Blanche 🏴 (@philblanche) March 18, 2019
The linesman then didn’t raise his flag for Aguero who headed home the winner from Bernardo Silva’s cross from the left in a clear offside position.
Like Clattenburg also says in his column, there was plenty of time to get VAR fit and ready to use at both Swansea and Millwall, who hosted Brighton in Sunday’s Quarter-Final tie.
“Andre Marriner should have seen Sterling was not fouled, and for the offside, the assistant referee should have been in line with the second-last defender. “
“The integrity of the FA Cup has been damaged by the use of VAR in Premier League stadiums only.”
“For the quarter-finals, the FA should have got Swansea and Millwall approved for use of VAR. “
“There was enough time, because the draw was on February 18.”
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