Aston Villa ‘robbed’ as VAR let Sheffield United off by disallowing goal

Aston Villa fans were furious after VAR overturned their opener against Sheffield United.

The Villans thought they had broken the deadlock in the 59th minute when Leon Bailey side-footed home an Ollie Watkins squared ball at the back post. However, referee Anthony Taylor ruled the goal out after VAR advised him to go to the monitor.

Goalkeeper Wes Foderingham was clearly pulled back as a corner came in during the buildup, with replays showing Jacob Ramsey fouling him by gripping his arm.

However, even after Foderingham had flapped at the ball, the Blades had the opportunity to clear but were dispossessed, resulting in Watkins’ cross for the goal. The amount of time that passed between the incident and the goal enraged Villa fans, who claimed that play should not have been brought back so far.

“Aston Villa have been robbed, I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” one X user wrote, while another raged: “Absolutely awful decision.”

“VAR is so bad!” said a third. “I’ve got to get rid of it,” a fourth said, adding, “Disgrace of a decision!”

“Different phase of play, no?” argued a fifth. One was furious: “I’m 100% sure the Premier League do not want Aston Villa to be top of the league.”

The Villa faithful were even more irritated because several decisions had gone against them. They were denied a fairly clear penalty shout nine minutes in when Watkins was brought down by Vinicius Souza, only for VAR to give Taylor the go-ahead to continue.

The draw moves them one place above Liverpool into second place, while Arsenal remains in first place ahead of their mouth-watering trip to Anfield on Saturday evening, which will determine who tops the tree on Christmas Day.