Howard Webb admitted 2 errors in favour of City and United

Howard Webb, head of the Premier League's referees' body, and former Newcastle United player Michael Owen took a look at the most controversial plays of recent games and how they were handled in the VAR room.

One of the plays discussed was Manchester City's 2nd goal against Fulham, a header by Nathan Ake which the Fulham players claimed was disallowed because Manuel Akanji was offside, blocking the goalkeeper's view.

In the fifth minute of added time in the first half, Ake heads in a corner. The ball passes close to Akanji, who is offside and makes a movement as the ball passes him, but without making contact with the ball.

Tony Harrington, VAR referee: "We checked the goal. Akanji is definitely offside - has he done anything to interfere with the goalkeeper's vision? He moves away from the ball."

"In my opinion, the goalkeeper makes a complete save. It's subjective, there may be an impact on the goalkeeper, but clearly? I think he sees the whole ball," added VAR assistant Nunn.

However, Webb, on the programme, said it was a mistake not to disallow the goal. "I think it should have been disallowed. It looks like Akanji is bothering Leno. It's a clear offside situation, but it wasn't identified at the time. It was a mistake," said the referee who refereed the 2010 World Cup final.

Webb also confirmed on the show that it was a mistake not to award a penalty to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the first matchday against Manchester United for Andre Onana's tackle on Sasa Kalajdzic and that Virgil Van Dijk's sending-off against Newcastle United was well refereed.

 

September 5, 2023