There’s three certainties in life. Death, taxes and VAR causing controversy in Premier League games. Today’s clash between Leeds United and Burnley has seen one of the more dubious decisions we’ve seen.
Illan Meslier rushed out of his goal in a wild attempt to collect a Burnley free-kick which had been flung into his penalty area. He found himself clattering into Ben Mee, with the ball falling free and Ashley Barnes impressively spinning and firing into the back of the net.
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By the time the ball had crossed the line, the referee had already blown his whistle, adjudging Mee to have fouled Meslier and forced him into dropping the ball, which quite clearly wasn’t the case.
See the incident for yourself.
“I’m not completely convinced by this!”
Has Illan Meslier got away with one here as Ben Mee is penalised for a foul on the Leeds goalkeeper?
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Meslier’s cavalier approach was what saw him make such hefty contact with Mee and subsequently drop the ball. It was, on no planet, a foul on the goalkeeper, if anyone was fouled it’s Mee and a penalty should have been awarded in consequence.
The fact that VAR looked at the incident and chose both to uphold the referee’s initial decision for the foul on Meslier and fail to award a penalty for Burnley is a double mistake from the officials.
It’s fast becoming farcical how many mistakes are being made by both those officiating on the field of play and those hiding away at Stockley Park.
Unlucky Burnley. Now you know what it is like to have VAR go against you. ALAW