Former Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher has explained the process behind VAR and their lengthy check for Aston Villa vs Everton, this weekend.
Aston Villa fell to their first 0-0 draw of the campaign this weekend as they faced Everton at Goodison Park.
This was the first time Unai Emery managed a game with this scoreline in his time managing in the Premier League.
Despite being a goalless draw, there were some chances throughout the game for both sides. Leon Bailey had one well saved by Jordan Pickford early on.
His save was bettered by Emi Martinez not long after as he made a double save from Dominic Calvert Lewin and James Garner. Two world-class saves.
Late in the day, Jhon Duran had an effort bounce just wide of the post which left the Colombian bemused as to how it had gone wide.
The one moment that caught the attention of a wider audience was Alex Moreno’s wonder goal which was ruled out. This sparked a discussion about VAR in the media in the days following the game.
Dermot Gallagher explains VAR process
It was a frustrating process which took nearly four minutes to work out what appeared to be a clear-cut decision. Every fan watching that game could see that Bailey was offside, or that Clement Lenglet fouled Arnaut Danjuma.
With that being said, there are plenty of questions coming from fans and pundits from all corners of the Premier League. Now former Premier League referee, Dermot Gallagher, has told Sky Sports the reasons for the delay.
On that, he said: “If you look the player who is actually offside is Bailey. They couldn’t find an angle where the ball and Bailey are in the picture at the same time so they didn’t know at what point it was kicked.
“You wonder if you’d give a foul by Lenglet there whether it would go away on Danjuma but Bailey is offside at the top. It was actually given offside.”
There are two things that could see the goal ruled out that are clear-cut. As Richard Keys said, why did they look at so many different aspects?
When it comes to the offside decision, Gallagher dug his heels in and stuck to the fact that it couldn’t have been quicker.
He added: “There was no way to get that picture earlier. It took that time to find Bailey and the ball. They suspected Bailey was offside but they couldn’t find an angle.”
This is a decision that has caught the eye of a wider audience rather than just Villa fans. The time taken is the issue as it leaves fans in the dark. Whatever the reason, the process needs to be improved.
