Sunderland came from behind to overcome Sheffield United in the EFL Championship Play-Off Final, bringing an end to their eight-year hiatus from the Premier League.
Dermot Gallagher, a former Premier League referee, feels VAR made the correct judgement to call out Harrison Burrows’ goal for Sheffield United against Sunderland at Wembley Stadium.
The Black Cats were losing 1-0 after Tyrese Campbell gave the Blades the lead after only 25 minutes, and things appeared to be getting worse. Less than ten minutes later, beneath the renowned arch, Chris Wilder’s team thought they were two goals ahead.
A Sheffield United corner was barely cleared as far as Burrows on the edge of the 18-yard box, and his first-time effort went into the bottom corner past Anthony Patterson through a mass of bodies.
However, VAR intervened and ruled that Blades player Vinicius Souza was offside and impeded Patterson’s line of sight for the goal. Referee Chris Kavanagh was referred to the monitor, who reversed his decision.
Sunderland would fight back in the second half, with goals from Eliezer Mayenda and Tommy Watson capping a spectacular late comeback that secured their spot in the Premier League for the next season. Speaking after the game, Wilder was unhappy by the decision to employ VAR technology in the final after not using it throughout the season.
In his post-match press conference, the Blades manager stated: “We play 46 games, two play-off matches, and now it’s a subjective decision by the referee. I don’t think the custodian saves it, and I doubt he even gets close to it. “I thought it gave them a real energy boost.”
Gallagher disagreed, believing that disallowing the goal was the correct judgement. Gallagher said on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch: “Yeah, I think it’s a really good intervention, because if you look at it, he’s not actually in the goalkeeper’s line of vision, but instead of peeling away, he almost peels into the goalkeeper.”
“From the angle behind the goal he moves left to right, he moves a): in front of the goalkeeper there and b): he’s within touching distance so he’s impacting the goalkeeper.”
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