REUTERS/Jon Super
Manchester United romped to victory at home against Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon at Old Trafford, although this triumph did not come without controversy for Michael Carrick's team.
After falling behind in the 29th-minute courtesy of a Leif Davis goal, alarm bells started to ring around the Theatre of Dreams. The Red Devils lost away at Hull City last Saturday in their Premier League opener, and a second successive defeat to a newly promoted side at the start of the season was simply unthinkable.
However, they responded to this setback in emphatic fashion, scoring five times across the remaining two-thirds of the match to secure their first three points in Carrick's first full season in charge.
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A hat-trick from Bruno Fernandes, a goal from Bryan Mbeumo and an own goal from Jacob Greaves did the job for the north-west outfit.
However, the decisive goal of the game - United's second - was awarded after a contentious VAR review, and former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has revealed his thoughts on the decision.
Mark Halsey Provides Verdict on Man Utd's Second Goal vs Ipswich
REUTERS/Jon Super
After a competitive first half which was arguably edged by the away team, United found themselves ahead early in the second period, courtesy of a deflected Harry Maguire shot which went in off Greaves' trailing foot. In the build-up to the goal, the England defender seemingly used his hands to control the ball, but this didn't ultimately prevent referee Craig Pawson from ruling out the goal.
The Premier League revealed that the reason the goal stood was that Maguire wasn't the goalscorer, and this outlook has been supported by ex-official Halsey, who took charge of hundreds of English top-flight matches between 1999 and 2013.
"Now, when Manchester United go 2-1 up with an own goal by Ipswich Town's Greaves, in the build-up to that goal, Harry Maguire handles the ball," Halsey explained to The Sun.
"The ball hits his arms. Now, when challenging Akpom for the ball, his arms are in a natural position, and it's an accidental handball. Harry Maguire gets his shot away, and it comes off Ipswich's Greaves and goes into the goal. Now, because Harry Maguire wasn't the scorer, the goal stands.
"Had Maguire shot directly into the goal, it would've been disallowed for an accidental handball because he would've been the goalscorer. Because he wasn't the goalscorer — it was an own goal — the goal stands. Some people say the law is an a**, you could argue it is. But, according to the law, that goal was correctly given by on-field and after review by VAR."
As Halsey alludes to, the goal was correctly given by the letter of the law. That said, many have argued that the fact that the shot took a deflection shouldn't be a reason for the goal to stand, as Maguire was ultimately only able to get his shot away because he'd got the ball under control by infringing the rules.