Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Redknapp has given his reaction to the offside decision that ruled out Alex Moreno’s goal against Everton.
It was far from a classic at Goodison Park as neither side created very much as a general rule throughout the 90 minutes.
There was an opportunity for Unai Emery’s side to move to joint first place in the Premier League, but that wasn’t to be.
It looked like the Villans had taken the lead as Alex Moreno smashed home a low effort from the edge of the box. After many minutes of checking VAR ruled that Leon Bailey was offside in the build-up, 0-0 it remained.
Some heroics came out from Emi Martinez as he made two world-class saves to deny first Dominic Calvert Lewin, one-on-one, then James Garner on the follow-up.
Very late in the day, Villa had a flurry of chances. The first fell to John McGinn whose shot was blocked on the line. The next was Jhon Duran who came on and had a flicked effort just about bounced the wrong side of the post.
This was as good as it would get as Villa were condemned to their first 0-0 draw of the campaign in a roughly contested game. This is yet another example of being unable to unlock an opposition low block.
What caught the eye of onlookers wasn’t the result, more so the decision which saw Moreno’s goal ruled out.
Jamie Redknapp gives his take on VAR
Moreno’s “opener” came from a short corner routine. Bailey found Douglas Luiz, he gave it to John McGinn who fired it back to the Jamaican. He found the left back on the edge and he smashed it into the bottom corner.
A great goal but there was a feeling amongst fans and the commentators that the goal would be chalked off. Looking at the replay, it seemed clear that Bailey was offside.
Nonetheless, it took nearly four minutes to check whether or not the goal should count. This involved checking offsides and a potential foul by Clement Lenglet.
This left Jamie Redknapp frustrated. On Sky Sports, he discussed the amount of time taken given how clear-cut he thought the decision was.
On that, he said: “It’s 3 minutes 45 seconds we’ll never get back. It’s a foul on Danjuma, he’s trying to block him to keep Bailey onside.
“Why on earth are they not looking at that, rather than the offside? There’s a couple of angles where you can see it’s a blatant foul. He’s blocking him, he’s pulling his shirt, that’s the foul. Whether he’s offside is almost irrelevant.”
It is safe to say that it doesn’t seem to make sense as to why this kind of decision could take so long. It isn’t a subjective decision, it is very black-and-white. Once they see he is offside, that is it, why does it take three-plus minutes?
The frustration voiced by Redknapp is echoed by almost all football fans who aren’t happy with the way VAR is operated.
