Harry Maguire has admitted VAR could now be a necessity in modern football after being outraged that he was on the wrong side of a controversial penalty shootout Manchester United’s victory over Arsenal on Sunday.
Referee Andy Madley pointed to the spot midway through the second half after Kai Havertz went down, but replays of the incident suggested the Arsenal striker went down very easily.
VAR will only be used in the fifth round of the FA Cup, so there will be no review of the incident. Maguire was clearly furious and let his frustration boil over, resulting in a frantic brawl between both pairs of players.
The cameras captured an angry Maguire shouting: “You cheating bastard, you cheating bastard” as he stormed towards Havertz.
Without VAR the penalty stood but Martin Odegaard’s effort was ultimately saved by Altay Bayindir, leaving Maguire feeling justice had been served.
“When he gave it, my first instinct was that everything will be fine, the VAR will turn it around, and then I clicked in my head that the VAR couldn’t intervene,” the United defender said after the game. “That made my head spin a little.
“[The referee] He probably looks back…he knows he did something wrong. That’s why we have VAR because in the big moments we need them correctly and it’s a hard job when we don’t have help for them.”