The top-flight of English football is set to implement VAR starting from next season, amid a flurry of mistakes made by officials and referees already
Southampton's Charlie Austin appears to have had his wishes granted after it was confirmed that the Premier League would be introducing video assistant refereeing (VAR) within the competition starting from the 2019-20 season.
Austin went on an infamous post-match rant recently after he had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside that would have earned his side all three points had it stood. With VAR set to be implemented within the Premier League from next term, Goal takes a look at controversial refereeing decisions so far this season – and are they set to be eliminated entirely with the addition of video replay?
Southampton 1-1 Watford | Charlie Austin disallowed goal Saints went ahead early through Manolo Gabbiadin's strike but Watford managed to equalise the score to 1-1 through Jose Holebas after the break. Austin had been convinced he had secured the points prior to Holebas' equaliser, but the goal was disallowed for an offside infringement from Maya Yoshida – despite the Southampton defender having not touched the ball.
Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool | Spurs not awarded penalty Spurs forward Heung-Min Son appeared to have been brought to ground by Sadio Mane inside the Liverpool penalty area in injury-time with Tottenham trailing 2-1, but nothing was given by referee Michael Oliver.
Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool | Sadio Mane disallowed goal Mane had a goal against the Gunners ruled offside that should have stood. The forward was in an offside position but it did not count during play since it is Roberto Firmino who went for the ball – making him the last player to be on the ball. Mane was entitled to go for goal and score, but was wrongly had his goal ruled offside.
Manchester United 3-2 Newcastle United | Ashley Young handball In one of the most bizarre refereeing decisions so far this season, Ashley Young cleared Jonjo Shelvey's cross inside the penalty box with his forearm, directing it out of play. Referee Anthony Taylor didn't even award Newcastle the corner kick, let alone penalise Manchester United with a penalty and red card!
Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace | Possible handball Aubameyang put Arsenal ahead at Selhurst Park, but there are questions of handball in the lead-up to the goal – with many pundits saying that the goal should not have stood.
Southampton 1-1 Watford | Watford denied penalty Nathaniel Chalobah was challenged in the box by Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand, who was already on a yellow, but was not given a second booking – and Watford were not granted a penalty.
Chelsea 0-0 Everton | Jorginho tackle During Chelsea's home game against the Toffees in the Premier League, Jorginho went in on a reckless tackle on Gylfi Sigurdsson that should have resulted in a red card, but only got a yellow.
Manchester City 5-0 Burnley | Kompany only given yellow Man City captain Vincent Kompany was booked after a high tackle committed on Aaron Lennon, but should have been given a straight red – as his challenge was high, late, and nowhere near the ball.
Manchester City 5-0 Burnley | City score when ball not in play City scored a second goal in freakish circumstances after Burnley's players stop playing, thinking the ball was out of play and that the referee Jonathan Moss was about to award a penalty (as he had his whistle to his mouth but never blew it), but Pep Guardiola's side continued with the game – and scored.
Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester United | Sanchez commits handball The Chilean won the ball on the halfway line which spearheaded an attack that lead to Anthony Martial scoring United's equaliser – but the ball appears to have hit both arms of the Chilean, which went unpunished.
Wolves 2-0 Southampton | Traore only given yellow Wolves' Traore was only given yellow after a rough tackle on Southampton forward Nathan Redmond, but should have been a red.
Everton 3-0 Fulham | Cottagers given wrong penalty decision Fulham's Denis Odoi slightly nudges Dominic Calvert-Lewin inside the box, and referee Roger East awarded the Toffees the penalty – which had been deemed harsh on a soft and natural collision between players.
West Ham 3-1 Man United | Hammers score offside goal Felipe Anderson opened the scoring against United for the Hammers through a Pablo Zabaleta cross, but there are questions about the delivery of the ball having been ruled offside.
Fulham 1-1 Watford | Fosu-Mensah only given yellow Timothy Fosu-Mensah sent Watford captain Troy Deeney to the ground through a challenge that involved the Fulham player's studs piercing his leg, but was only handed a yellow card.
Arsenal 2-0 Everton | Aubameyang scores offside goal Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted the second goal for Arsenal, but was clearly offside as Aaron Ramsey played him the ball. It was was not noticed by the officials, however, and the goal stood.