Penalty call proves 'need' for VAR, claims Maguire

Harry Maguire has suggested video assistant referees are essential to the modern game, pointing to the controversial penalty that Arsenal won against him and his Manchester United team on Sunday.

- David Hytner

Maguire was stunned when the referee, Andrew Madley, penalised him in the 69th minute of the FA Cup third-round tie with the score at 1-1 and United down to 10 men after Diogo Dalot's red card. The defender had stood his ground against the Arsenal striker Kai Havertz, putting out an arm at worst only to watch his opponent tumble to the ground.

VAR is not in use in the early rounds of the competition - it comes in from the fifth round onwards. "It's a tough one," Maguire said, when asked if it was the worst penalty decision he had seen. "At the time when he gave it... my initial instinct was that it will be all right, VAR will turn it over and then I clicked on in my head that VAR could not intervene. So that's when my head went a little bit.

"He [Madley] probably looks back... he knows he got it wrong. That's why we have VAR because in the big moments, we need them correct and it's a tough gig if we don't have help for them [referees]."