Leicester City were denied a league double over Manchester United due to a combination of poor finishing and some controversial refereeing decisions. This has led to an inquest on social media about whether the Foxes have been hard-done-by compared to so-called bigger teams. FOL endeavours to provide fans with a wider image of ‘video assistant referee’ – or VAR – decisions throughout this current 2021/22 season and provide a judgement of whether they were fair or not.
Decisions that went in Leicester City’s favour
At FOL we may be passionate but we aim to provide a relatively balanced perspective. Therefore, it is only fair to go through the VAR decisions that have gone in the East Midlands outfit‘s favour.
Norwich 1-2 Leicester City: 28th August 2021
Leicester City breathed a sigh of relief as Norwich were denied an equaliser due to Todd Cantwell standing offside in front of Kasper Schmeichel. Although Kasper was unlikely to have saved the header anyway, Cantwell was still obstructing the ‘keeper meaning VAR’s decision was justified.
Leicester City 2-2 Burnley: 25th September 2021
Leicester City were let off the hook and avoided defeat due to VAR intervening to disallow Chris Wood’s last-minute goal for offside. Whilst a tight call, replays showed this was the right decision.
Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City: 5th December 2021
Aston Villa were extremely unhappy after Jacob Ramsey’s goal just before half-time was disallowed. This was due to Schmeichel having one hand on the ball, which was between hand and ground. Therefore, by the letter of the law, it was the right decision although City benefitted through a bizarre rule.
When the Foxes were mistreated
The number of VAR decisions going against Leicester have been much more numerous than those going in the Foxes’ favour, with the ones at United adding to a growing collection.
West Ham 4-1 Leicester City: 23rd August 2021
Leicester City were already one goal down when Ayoze Perez received a straight red card for a challenge on Pablo Fornals. Initially going unpunished, Perez was deemed of committing serious foul play by VAR and was subsequently sent off following an on-pitch review. Despite some mitigating circumstances, the nature of the tackle meant the red was justified.
Norwich 1-2 Leicester City: 28th August 2021
Leicester City saw both sides of VAR in this game, giving away a penalty as a result of VAR intervention. After VAR review, Soyuncu was deemed to have upended Pierre Lees-Melous, leading to the referee pointing to the spot. This was a rather soft penalty but one that Soyuncu didn’t need to give the referee a decision to make.
Brighton 2-1 Leicester City: 19th September 2021
Leicester City felt extremely hard-done-by after leaving without anything on the South Coast. The Foxes were victims of VAR on three occasions. The first was perhaps the most ludicrous, with Jannik Vestergaard being penalised for handball despite being held by Neal Maupay. Brighton were unfairly awarded the penalty after the VAR review.
After Leicester had started a comeback, they also had two goals ruled out for offside. Both were due to Harvey Barnes being in the goalkeepers’ eyeline. The first was probably justified, being similar to the Norwich one that went in the Foxes’ favour. The second, however, seemed extremely unfair given that Barnes did nothing to influence play. It was telling that in this case, there were view appeals from the Brighton players meaning this was the second injustice to occur in this game.
Leeds 1-1 Leicester City: 7th November 2021
Leicester City thought they had scored a late winner when Ademola Lookman fired in from close range. Unfortunately, VAR soon intervened to rule this as offside which was the right decision.
Leicester City 4-2 Watford: 28th November 2021
Leicester City eventually ran out two-goal winners in the snow but were pegged back several times by Watford. For Watford’s second goal, there was a VAR review over whether Emmanuel Dennis had fouled Castagne but VAR correctly allowed the goal to stand.
Man City 6-3 Leicester City: 26th December 2021
Brendan Rodgers lamented Leicester’s fortune as Man City benefitted from a VAR call to earn a penalty in the first half. Whilst this was soft, Youri Tielemans did have a hold on Aymeric Laporte meaning it was justified although one questions why these sorts of fouls are not pulled up on more occasions.
Leicester City 2-2 West Ham: 13th February 2022
Craig Dawson’s last-minute equaliser snatched West Ham an undeserved point to dampen the spirits of Foxes fans. Despite appearing to use his bicep to prod the ball into the goal, VAR bizarrely deemed that the goal should stand due to the absence of a ‘clear and obvious error’. With replays showing more of the ball hit below the ‘t-shirt line’, this decision continues to amaze.
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.
A ‘challenge’ that was late, high, using reckless force and studs up. The fact that James Maddison moved his leg to avoid the tackle’s full force should not mean a lesser punishment. Such decisions only fuel the idea of big-six bias.
Overall it is clear that Leicester have not benefitted from VAR throughout this season. Naturally, some decisions going against the King Power side are frustrating but fair, whilst there have been some calls, namely at Brighton and Manchester United, that have caused outrage. FOL hope that soon things will change.
The main problem with VAR
Once again, the main issue many have with VAR is how it is used rather than the concept itself. It all boils down to the standard of refereeing. VAR is too often not used when a clear and obvious error has been made but is often used when there is not necessarily a clear and obvious error.
The process of review at the monitor also makes the outcome a near-foregone conclusion. When you show the referee the incident in slow-motion or only from one angle, it is going to influence the decision. This was apparent in the game against Manchester United and cost the Foxes two points.