Rob Earnshaw, the former professional footballer, experienced the passion of an ebullient match as Athletic Club played Manchester United. The final dramatic scene of the match involved the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review. The final was played on Athletic Club’s home turf. Two key decisions changed the course of the match, such as a questionable penalty given to Manchester United and a red card issued to an Athletic Club player.
The atmosphere during the game was phenomenal, with supporters from both clubs creating a deafening noise and spurring their teams on. As Earnshaw explained, it was a pretty wild scene, indicative of the anxiety and drama that was taking place inside the stadium. As you could imagine, the stakes were quite high as each had an important three points in Europa League play on the line.
The defining moments came when VAR stepped in, a technology that has grown in importance over the years in football across the globe. Shortly after the start of the second half, VAR went to work again to review a challenge in the penalty area. They decided that a foul had been committed and awarded a penalty kick to Manchester United. With the score level at 1-1, Bruno Fernandes stepped up to take the penalty familiar with the scene.
Just one minute after the penalty drama, VAR was needed again. This time, the officials looked right through an obvious tackle by an Athletic Club defender. They weren’t aware that it was excessive and would give a red card retroactively. The referee’s decision to send off the players meant that Athletic Club was left with just ten men. This substitution moved the momentum definitely in the direction of Manchester United.
Having experienced all these important VAR moments on the pitch, Earnshaw explained how incredibly important they were in changing the flow of the game. It’s an issue every football fan or player has to weigh on the popular tool, VAR. In this case, this time it proved to be the decisive factor in so many pivotal plays in this game.
The goal proved decisive as the match ended in a 1-0 scoreline, giving Manchester United the well-deserved win against Athletic Club. Earnshaw drew attention to the growing role of technology in the sport. He noted that VAR has transformed not only how matches are refereed, but how teams craft their game plans.
Leave a Reply