Harry Maguire reflects on a controversial penalty decision during the Arsenal vs Man United match, highlighting the absence of VAR.
The system won’t kick in until the fifth round of the competition, so when the ref, Andrew Madley, gave Arsenal that penalty, it was a bit of a shocker. Havertz went down after barely any contact, and Maguire was fuming, especially when there was a bit of a scuffle in the box before Martin Odegaard took the penalty.
Luckily for United, Altay Bayindir came to the rescue with a fantastic save, keeping out Odegaard’s shot and later stopping Havertz in the shootout. Maguire felt the ref would regret that call once he saw the replay. He mentioned that it shows why VAR is needed, especially when big moments like this happen.
Maguire said, “At first, I thought VAR would overturn it, but then it hit me that it couldn’t.” He also pointed out that United didn’t play their best but showed great spirit, especially after going down to 10 men when Diogo Dalot was sent off.
He praised the team for their fight and character, saying it’s tough to play at the Emirates. Even though they were a man down, they managed to limit Arsenal’s chances. Maguire noted that they’ve had a tough run of away games but felt they competed well in all of them.
He wrapped up by saying they need to stick together and focus on the upcoming games, as the league table isn’t looking great right now. Time to kick it up a notch!
