5 most controversial VAR calls of the season so far | Premier League 2020-21

#3 Patrick Bamford offside – Crystal Palace 4-1 Leeds United, November 7th, 2020

Patrick Bamford saw a perfectly good goal chalked off by VAR against Crystal Palace.

VAR’s decision to chalk off Liverpool’s goal against Everton for an apparent offside was a remarkably bad decision. However, it was par for the course in terms of VAR and offsides. Fans had seen decisions that were just as bad throughout 2019-20.

The decision to chalk off a Patrick Bamford goal for Leeds United in their defeat at Crystal Palace, on the other hand, was simply inexcusable.

With Marcelo Bielsa’s side chasing an equalizer following an early goal from Palace, Bamford found himself in space between two Palace defenders just inside the box.

He pointed to exactly where he wanted teammate Mateusz Klich to put the ball – and the Pole delivered perfectly, allowing Bamford to dart in and flick the ball over the Palace keeper into the net.

It looked like one of the most cleverly-worked goals in the Premier League season thus far, but that was before VAR had its say.

The VAR officials in Stockley Park alerted referee Chris Kavanagh to a potential offside – and the replay revealed that the offender was Bamford. Somehow, VAR had decided that despite Nathaniel Clyne clearly standing ahead of the striker, his extended, pointing arm had strayed into an offside position.

Quite how VAR had come to that decision was baffling, particularly when you consider that the part of Bamford that was offside – his extended arm – would be the part of the body he’d be unable to score with anyway.

The goal was immediately chalked off, and Leeds ended up collapsing to a 4-1 defeat – becoming another victim of VAR's incompetency.

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#4 Pascal Gross penalty – Brighton 1-1 Liverpool, November 28th, 2020

VAR's decision to award Brighton a penalty for Andrew Robertson's tackle on Danny Welbeck was a bizarre one.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s home match with Liverpool this Saturday appeared to be heading into the realm of missed opportunities for Graham Potter’s men. They’d played excellently and had even missed a penalty against the champions.

But despite VAR chalking off two Liverpool goals for offside – one questionable call and one correct – it looked like Diogo Jota’s strike would be enough to win the match for the Reds. However, once again, VAR would have the final say – leaving plenty of Liverpool fans to cry conspiracy.

With the match in its dying moments, the ball found its way to Brighton striker Danny Welbeck inside the penalty area. However, before Welbeck could shoot, Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson shot in to clear the ball away.

Both sides continued to play – and even Welbeck, who stumbled to the ground, didn’t appeal for a penalty. However, VAR then alerted referee Stuart Attwell to a possible infringement. And after viewing the footage, Attwell pointed to the spot.

Somehow, VAR had decided to advise Attwell that Robertson had connected with the foot of Welbeck while clearing the ball, despite actually winning the challenge.

Pascal Gross duly dispatched the spot-kick, leaving a furious Jurgen Klopp to rage against the officials as he left the field.

This was clearly a bad call from VAR, but what made it even more confusing was the events of the previous week. Both Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion had been awarded penalties against Brighton and Manchester United, respectively – only for VAR to chalk them off as the offending player had apparently connected with the ball as well as the attacker.

So how was Robertson’s tackle any different to those? To be honest, it was hard to say. And the decision now stands as another example of VAR’s massive inconsistencies.

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#5 Ollie Watkins offside – West Ham 2-1 Aston Villa, November 30th, 2020

Ollie Watkins saw his goal against West Ham chalked off by VAR, despite the fact that he was fouled in the build-up.

The latest bizarre VAR call came from West Ham United’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa at the London Stadium. West Ham had been leading the game for the majority of the second half, even clinging onto their lead when Ollie Watkins hit the bar with a penalty.

However, in added time, it appeared that Watkins had gotten the last laugh. The Villa striker was able to break free from Hammers defender Angelo Ogbonna and swept a Matt Targett cross past keeper Lukas Fabianski to seemingly claim his seventh goal of the season.

But despite Watkins’ celebrations – and referee Peter Bankes happy to award the goal – VAR stepped in and began an agonizingly long check. The check ended nearly three minutes later – and decided that the Villa striker was offside.

There were a number of issues with this VAR call. Firstly – like the offside calls against Mane and Bamford – if Watkins was offside at all, it was by a matter of millimeters. And like Bamford, it appeared that it was his arm that’d strayed off.

But to make matters worse, the only reason Watkins’ arm had reached forward was to free himself from a blatant bear-hug from Ogbonna. So surely, if VAR was unable to award the goal, then the system should’ve advised Bankes to give a penalty for the blatant foul?

Apparently, this was not the case – and Villa were left rueing the unfair loss of a point. The rest of the football world was left to discuss the clear drawbacks of the VAR system once again.