‘Where is VAR?’ – Ex-PGMOL chief fumes as Man United controversy re-analysed
Keith Hackett has revealed that Man United should have been given a penalty in the early stages of their win over Fulham after Bryan Mbeumo was fouled by Jorge Cuenca.
The former PGMOL chief and FIFA referee has exclusively told Football Insider that the match officials missed Cuenca’s careless foul on the United star, and they should have been given a spot-kick.
United ran out 3-2 winners over Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday as Benjamin Sesko netted a late winner to maintain Michael Carrick‘s winning start to life as interim boss.
Casemiro and Matheus Cunha had given the Red Devils a 2-0 lead just before the hour mark, but Fulham thought they had snatched a point in the final stages after strikes from Raul Jimenez and Kevin.
Sesko then popped up in the 94th minute to win it at the death, but United will feel as if they should have already been three goals to the good after Mbeumo was denied a spot-kick early on.
Bryan Mbeumo was challenged by Cuenca but nothing was given
Mbeumo was released beyond the Fulham defence in the 10th minute, but was tackled by Cuenca as he tried to trap the ball, which allowed Bernd Leno to gather it.
Match referee John Brooks saw nothing wrong with the challenge, which started on the edge of the box and continued into it, but replays showed that the Spaniard had gone through Mbeumo to get to the ball.
Cuenca did soon concede a penalty for a foul on Cunha just six minutes later, but that was overturned as his tackle was deemed to have started too far out of the area.
Hackett fumes at VAR for not reviewing Cuenca’s foul on Mbeumo
The lack of complaints from Red Devils’ players at the time of Cuenca’s tackle pointed to it being a perfectly good tackle, with VAR choosing not to review it as play continued.
He certainly caught more of Mbeumo than the ball, though, and PGMOL expert Hackett believes that the Stockley Park officials made a mistake in not looking into the challenge properly.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider on The Final Whistle, he said: “I was surprised when he didn’t give a penalty kick. I thought, initially, it was (a penalty), and then I’m thinking ‘where is VAR?’
“On my replay, I just played it back a bit, and gone ‘that is a foul’, therefore it has to be a penalty kick. It was a careless challenge.
“Surprisingly, the match officials appear to have missed it…the fact is that this player has missed the ball and fouled the man.“