Dermot Gallagher shares verdict on controversial incident in West Ham defeat v Man Utd
Dermot Gallagher has given his verdict on VAR’s failure to disallow Manchester United’s equalising goal against West Ham on Saturday.
It looked as though Dean Henderson’s pass forward went out of play before it landed at the feet of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba rifled home the Red Devils’ equaliser just a few seconds later.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Gallagher admitted that the linesman made an error while also admitting that VAR was unable to tell if the ball went out of play.
He said, “There’s a couple of issues here. The guy that had the best view didn’t use it. The assistants prioritise offsides and the ball out of play. In this situation, the ball was so far down the wing when Henderson kicked it that offside is immaterial at that point, the key issue is where is the ball going to go.
“The assistant is looking straight across the field at the offside and doesn’t see the flight of the ball. When it went to VAR, there was no conclusive evidence that the ball had gone out.
“It looks out, and subsequently, we have seen it did go out but the calibration is horizontal, there is no lateral line, so they couldn’t calibrate from corner flag to corner flag to see the ball had gone out. It’s just one of those things that got missed.”
Gallagher’s phrase ‘it’s just one of those things’ is a fairly disappointing response to the incident as it completely changed the complexion of the game.
Pogba’s goal drew Man United level and less than 10 minutes later they were 3-1 up after the game’s momentum completely shifted.
The incident shows yet another failure of VAR as its integrity was called into question yet again this weekend.
BBC’s Match of the Day programme was able to prove that the ball went out of play, so why couldn’t VAR?
The goal shouldn’t have stood and who knows what the result would’ve been if Man United hadn’t scored the equaliser.
Hopefully, something can be implemented quickly that can help referees spot if the ball has gone out of play before a similar decision goes against another Premier League side.
Failing that, hopefully, linesmen are asked to actually look at the ball when it’s coming towards them over the next few weeks.
In other West Ham news, we think Pablo Fornals had an afternoon to forget against the Red Devils.