Manchester United were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in their Premier League match on Friday night.
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Referee Chris Kavanagh in discussion with Bruno Fernandes during Man Utd's 1-0 loss against Chelsea.
Referee Chris Kavanagh in discussion with Bruno Fernandes during Man Utd's 1-0 loss against Chelsea.
(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United have been told that on-field referee Chris Kavanagh and his VAR lead, Craig Pawson, came to two correct decisions during their defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
United thought they had taken the lead in the first half on Friday night when Harry Maguire produced a confident finish to open the scoring. However, after a brief stoppage, the semi-automated offside technology found that the centre-back's knee was in an offside position and the goal was ruled out.
Heading into the second half and the first VAR moment of controversy took place. Chelsea player Tyrique George appeared to have been wiped out by Andre Onana inside the area.
Referee Kavanagh initially gave the spot kick, but overturned the decision after replays shown to him by Pawson highlighted that goalkeeper Onana had won the ball. Reflecting on that call on Ref Watch, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher praised the officials.
"Excellent use of VAR. Hand on heart, we would all give a penalty there on first viewing," Gallagher explained.
"When you see it again, he doesn't catch him. He gets the ball, good intervention from VAR and rightly overruled."
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Moving further on in the match, following Marc Cucurella's winner, Chelsea felt aggrieved that Ayden Heaven was only shown a yellow card for his challenge on Malo Gusto. After the match, pundit Jamie Redknapp felt the centre-back was "very lucky" to avoid further punishment - while ex-United captain Roy Keane conceded that there would have been "no complaints" if Heaven had been sent off.
Despite the ex-professionals' opinions on the night, Gallagher was adamant that the right decision was reached by the officials. "It's certainly not a red card for me," he then concluded.
"Gusto makes a similar challenge, the only difference is Gusto gets the ball. Heaven doesn't, but they both leap in.
"Gusto is actually further off the ground than Heaven is." Had Heaven been sent off, he would not have missed the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night as suspensions do not carry over into Europe.
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