Alyson Rudd of the Times assures me that VAR rightly confirmed that it wasn't a pen

[Luis Anaconda]

The problem with football, of course, is that there is that element of discretion left to referees regarding intent and so forth, so a review system will always mean that there will be a clash between different interpretations. The question is whether on or off-field officials will have the final say.

Yep - one of the interesting things about Sunday's decision for Liverpool's non-goal was that the ref Pawson (booooooooooo) was on VAR for the United Everton game and didn't give a foul for a similar challenge on De Gea. So his definition was consistent, yet he gets overturned in this instant. Even though I think it was a foul, it hardly makes any sense

[redgunamo]

And nobody wants the officials to be correct 100% of the time, in any case. Otherwise how to explain away a 2-0 defeat at Swindon Town, or somewhere like that, without at least in part blaming the linesman or the ref. For the good of the game, these functionaries must continue to exist as sort of Aunt Sally, pantomime characters.

The problem with football, of course, is that there is that element of discretion left to referees regarding intent and so forth, so a review system will always mean that there will be a clash between different interpretations. The question is whether on or off-field officials will have the final say.