Man Utd’s ‘disgraceful’ penalty resurfaces as VAR hammered for costing Fulham at Chelsea

Fulham were denied the opening goal before losing to Chelsea as VAR intervened to give a controversial foul – with a similar incident involving Manchester United being referenced

VAR finds itself under the microscope again after intervening to help disallow Fulham’s opening goal at Chelsea – before they went on to lose 2-0 at their west London rivals.

Joshua King thought he’d put the visitors ahead in the second-half before those celebrations were cut short. Rodrigo Muniz was deemed to have fouled Trevoh Chalobah as he tried to turn the Chelsea defender near the halfway line.

The decision stunned plenty of onlookers with the Fulham star seemingly doing little wrong, leaving Marco Silva fuming. He attempted to confront referee Rob Jones before being waved away as his side were left to digest a difficult decision and result.

The incident has drawn huge parallels to a penalty awarded to Manchester United at Aston Villa back in 2020. Bruno Fernandes, the man in possession, tried to turn Ezri Konsa, before placing his boot on the Villa man as he went down.

On that occasion it was the United man who was awarded the penalty, much to the frustration of then Villa boss Dean Smith. So whilst the man in possession five years ago was awarded a penalty, now Muniz has been penalised and the lack of consistency is called out.

READ MORE: Fans fume at latest VAR controversy as Premier League issue explanation – ‘Game’s gone’READ MORE: Furious Marco Silva lays into ‘unbelievable’ VAR decision after controversial Chelsea win

Jones, the referee at Stamford Bridge, explained his decision after taking a look at the monitor and said: “After review, the Fulham number nine commits a careless challenge, stands on the foot of the Chelsea defender, therefore we disallow the goal and we restart with a Chelsea free-kick.”

Jamie Carragher was among those to air their frustration with the Sky Sports pundit saying on social media: “VAR has had a shocking start to the season”

Fulham boss Silva was left stunned, as were many watching the game, and the Portuguese boss told TNT Sports after full-time: “For me it’s unbelievable, really and of course… you can talk about many things, I would prefer to say nothing more because I will be punished.

“And I want to be on the bench in the next game, I don’t want to pay fines, I want to help our players. But it has been difficult for us, this start of the season, with so many decisions that haven’t come in the way they should.”

Rewind five years and Smith was equally fuming that his Villa side saw a penalty given against them. Referee Jon Moss gave the spot-kick and his decision was backed up by VAR official Graham Scott before the manager let rip.

He said: “I can understand Jon (Moss, referee) getting it wrong but I don’t know what VAR are looking at – it’s a disgraceful decision. They have a screen they can go and look at it but they don’t seem to be bothered. Fernandes is trying a double drag back – his first touch is on the ball his second touch is on Ezri Konsa’s shin. I won’t tell you what I think…”

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.