Every time Leicester City were mistreated by VAR this season
By Nathan Wong
Arsenal 2-0 Leicester City: 13th March 2022
Leicester City’s hopes of a comeback were all but extinguished by a VAR-given penalty. After penalty box pinball, the VAR officials decided that Caglar Soyuncu had hand-balled in the area. Despite the ball coming at close-range, it did strike the Turk’s arm meaning that whilst it was harsh it was understandably given. Nevertheless, the length of review which was almost five minutes, suggests it may not have been a ‘clear and obvious error’.
Manchester United 1-1 Leicester City: 2nd April 2022
The most recent controversy screams injustice as Leicester City came worse off to two VAR decisions. After cooling down from the game, Leicester fans may be able to accept the disallowing of James Maddison’s goal. Whilst this was a harsh decision as Raphael Varane pushed Kelechi Iheanacho first and then made the most of the contact, the replays do suggest it was a foul. If the situation was revered, Leicester fans would also have wanted that disallowed.
However, the failure of VAR to intervene after Scott McTominay’s leg-breaker was simply ludicrous. Considering the VAR official was Michael Oliver, the best referee, it says a lot about the overall standard. McTominay’s challenge fulfilled every criterion for a red card except actually causing severe injury.