Leeds United will be back in Premier League when they face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.
Leeds United return to Premier League action when they visit Fulham this weekend - and you could forgive the hosts for still feeling a sense of injustice after coming out on the wrong side of a poor VAR decision in their last game.
The Cottagers made the short trip to Chelsea and appeared to have taken the lead midway through the first half when youngster Josh King fired home his first league goal - but the effort was ruled out after a VAR review controversially ruled Rodrigo Muniz had fouled home defender Trevoh Chalobah by stepping on his foot as he turned in the middle of the pitch.
The goal was initially given by on-field official Rob Jones - but he was advised to review the incident by VAR official Michael Salisbury and opted to overturn the call and disallow King’s effort. Understandably, the decision provoked anger from Cottagers boss Marco Silva, who insisted VAR was not introduced to ‘re-referee the game’.
"How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable," Silva told TNT Sports after the game. "We have meetings with referee and people in charge, we all want to win. VAR is not here to re-referee the game. I would prefer not to say something more because I would be punished. I want to be on the touchline next week to help my team, I don't want to be fined. But it has been a difficult start to the season with some decisions."
Silva’s mood would hardly have been helped by the fact Professional Game Match Officials Limited chief Howard Webb has since admitted that ‘guidance wasn’t followed properly’ in the aftermath of the ‘goal’ and stressed that the match officials had made ‘a misjudgement’.
Speaking on the Premier League’s ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ show, the former FIFA official said: "It wasn't controversial, it was wrong. We've established some principles in terms of how we officiate in the Premier League and how we use VAR. They sit around a high threshold for penalising contact, aiding the flow, rhythm and tempo of the game. We've also established a high bar for intervention with VAR.
"In this situation, that guidance wasn't followed properly. There was a misjudgement by the officials involved in this situation about how that contact happened between Muniz and Chalobah. The officials got super focused on that contact, without looking at the full context of how it happened."
Webb’s view has now been backed up by the PGMOL’s Key Match Incidents panel. They said: "The panel unanimously supported the original on-field call to allow play to continue and award the goal."
Who will be the match officials for Fulham v Leeds United?
Premier League referees could be wearing body cameras this seasonplaceholder image
Premier League referees could be wearing body cameras this season | Getty Images
The Premier League have announced confirmed their officials appointments for this weekend fixtures and that means Craig Pawson will take charge of Fulham vs Leeds United. He will be assisted by Lee Betts and Mark Scholes at Craven Cottage and Josh Smith is on fourth official duties. Paul Tierney will be in charge of VAR at Stockley Park, with Blake Antrobus his assistant on the day.
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