Newcastle’s last-minute defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday was overshadowed by VAR’s failure to intervene in a couple of game-changing moments.
Goalscorer Kai Havertz could have been shown a red card for elbowing Dan Burn before Newcastle were denied a penalty after a foul on Jacob Murphy in the early-stages of the second-half.
Eddie Howe described the failure to let referee David Coote view the penalty incident again as ‘making a mockery of VAR’, with Alan Shearer branding the decision as ‘pathetic’.
The implementation of VAR has been controversial since its introduction into English football with every team feeling the effects of decisions made by the technology.
Using data provided by ESPN, here we have ranked how many decisions each Premier League side have had overturned against them by VAR this season:
(Note: this list only includes decisions that have been overturned - no ‘wrong’ subjective calls are included)
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1. Watford: 2
The Hornets have had just two decisions overturned against them by VAR this season. One saw a goal disallowed following encroachment into the area after a penalty against Manchester United and the other saw West Ham awarded a spot-kick for a foul on Jarrod Bowen. Photo: IAN KINGTON
2. Southampton: 3
The Saints were involved in one of the early-season VAR controversies when a decision to award them a penalty and a red-card for Kyle Walker was overturned in September. Photo: Alex Livesey
3. Liverpool: 3
The last decision to be overturned against Liverpool came in mid-December when Andy Robertson was shown a red card in their game with Tottenham Hotspur. Photo: John Powell
4. Leeds United: 3
Leeds have struggled this season but cannot blame VAR too much for these problems having seen just three decisions against them overturned - two of these led directly to goals for the opposition. Photo: Alex Pantling