04 November 2023 , 12:54
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Manchester United's seventh-minute goal against Fulham was disallowed because Harry Maguire - who was standing in an offside position - was interfering with play.
Scott McTominay thought he had opened the scoring at Craven Cottage on Saturday after tapping the ball into the net. Yet the goal was reviewed by the VAR official, who noticed Maguire was offside when Christian Eriksen delivered a free kick into the box.
Maguire's presence stopped Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz from getting across to Alejandro Garnacho, who was on the end of Eriksen's delivery. Garnacho then hit the ball across the face of goal, allowing McTominay to score the easiest of goals... or so he thought.
A lengthy review followed McTominay's strike, as referee John Brooks visited his pitch-side monitor to judge whether Maguire was interfering with play. Brooks accepted the VAR official's verdict and disallowed the goal, much to Fulham's relief.
The decision divided opinion among BBC Radio 5 Live's commentary team. Everton icon Leon Osman said: "Is Harry Maguire interfering enough with play? In my opinion he is interfering, in Conor Coady's opinion he is not. It just shows how subjective this call is."
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Some fans on social media described the decision as "ridiculous" and a "joke", with others insisting it's not a "clear and obvious" incident. Yet some supporters have applauded Brooks for making the right decision in the end, highlighting Maguire's involvement.
Jermaine Jenas was part of TNT Sports' commentary team for the game and offered his view. The former Tottenham midfielder said: "Your initial thought is that it’s onside, but Maguire does try to make contact with the ball and therefore it’d be offside.
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"Right there, he tries to play the ball at the end and that movement to win the ball is what makes him active. This is ridiculous (the on-field review) though. Are we just going to pass it around the house until someone actually makes a decision?
"The be-all-and-end-all is that they got the decision right in the end but when it’s going against you, it’s really going against you if you’re Manchester United right now."
Joe Cole was part of TNT Sports' punditry team. He said: "It’s a real tricky situation because Maguire is offside, and then he does make an attempt. But for a second, just imagine the pressure VAR is under at the moment - we’ve had 35-40 minutes to make our minds up about this and they took four minutes, yes, but they got it right."
Rio Ferdinand added: The on-field decision is just them [VAR] passing the buck, isn’t it? That’s what it is really, just make a decision. In the end, it’s the right decision and Harry Maguire does influence the defender’s decision, his position as well maybe."
The VAR decision was a huge let off for Fulham. Ex-Aston Villa boss Dean Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Fulham will be disappointed with that. A bog standard free kick and United get the overload at the far post. McTominay has been on good scoring form recently."