Ex-PGMOL chief: Wolves star deserved sanction vs Man United, VAR not allowed to intervene
Michael Salisbury should not be blamed despite failing to sanction one Wolves star during their 4-1 defeat to Man United.
That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett, who exclusively told Football Insider that VAR were unable to intervene following a blatant, punishable challenge at Molineux.
Yerson Mosquera picked up a booking after conceding a penalty as Man United pushed Wolves closer to Premier League relegation, with several other players going in the referee’s notebook.
Kobbie Mainoo also made a rare appearance off the bench, helping to seal the game amid goals from Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo, and Mason Mount on Monday, 8 December.
Wolves star fortunate to escape booking after reckless challenge
Salisbury’s performance left a lot to be desired, and with footage now doing the rounds on social media, it has come to light that the referee missed another key decision.
In the 10th minute, Jhon Arias went lunging into a challenge on Noussair Mazraoui, catching the defender on the top of his foot and leaving him in complete agony.
Play continued, with the Wolves attack not even committing a foul during the game, according to FotMob, and United fans were outraged that the player was allowed to get away with it.
Arias could have also been sent off against Aston Villa for a similar challenge last month, but even after a VAR review, Chris Kavanagh decided to stick with a yellow card.
Jhon Arias is forming a bad reputation at Wolves
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the trending challenge on social media, while he could understand the referee’s lack of action, the former referee expected a sanction.
“The challenge was reckless, and Jhon Arias should have received a yellow card. In fairness to the referee, this is not an easy action by the player to detect and sanction,” he said.
“VAR were not allowed to intervene under its operational criteria,” Hackett continued, with the challenge not bad enough for a red card to be awarded following a VAR review.
While this challenge was nowhere near as bad, the Colombian appears to be creating a bad reputation for himself, and referees are more likely to keep a close eye on him in the Premier League.