Harry Maguire has admitted VAR may now be a necessity in modern football after he was left outraged at being on the wrong end of a controversial penalty. Manchester United's win over Arsenal on Sunday.
Referee Andy Madley pointed to the spot midway through the second half after Kai Havertz went to ground, only for replays of the incident to suggest the Arsenal forward went down too easily.
VAR will not be in action in the FA Cup until the fifth round, meaning there will be no review of the incident. Maguire was clearly fuming and let his frustrations boil over, causing a furious brawl involving both sets of players.
Cameras captured an enraged Maguire shouting “You scumbag scumbag, scumbag lad” as he lunged at Havertz.
Without VAR, the penalty was disallowed, but Martin Odegaard's effort was ultimately saved by Altay Bayindir, leaving Maguire feeling like justice had been done.
“The moment he gave it, my initial instinct was it's going to be OK, VAR is going to give it back and then it clicked in my head that VAR can't intervene. united said the defender after the match. “So then my head went a little bit.
“(The referee) probably looks back…he knows he got it wrong. That's why we have VAR because in the big moments, we need them to get it right and it's a tough gig if we don't have help to them.”