Referee Andy Madley’s decision to overturn Everton’s penalty against Manchester United has whipped up a storm(Image: Getty Images). Michael Owen and Alan Shearer have both slammed the controversial decision to overturn Everton’s last-minute penalty against Manchester United.. Ruben Amorim’s men fought back from 2-0 down to salvage a point at Goodison Park on Saturday but nearly threw it all away with seconds to play. Referee Andy Madley initially pointed to the spot after ex-United ace Ashley Young appeared to be tugged to the floor in the box by Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt but ended up reversing his decision during a VAR review.. Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer criticised the review process, stating there was “no need” for VAR to intervene. “Whatever happened to the high bar, clear and obvious and not re-refereeing games?” he asked.. “There was no need for VAR to get involved at all because it wasn’t a clear and obvious error. Yes, Ashley Young tries to make the most of it, but there’s two clear pulls on his shirt. It’s clear to see.”. The Magpies legend also expressed confusion over the limited camera angles provided for the referee. “What is mind-boggling to me is that they don’t show him the correct angles,” he complained. “They show him one angle when it might look a bit of a dive, they show him another and then straight away he’s off [to overturn the decision] that would be most confusing to me.”. Former Red Devils star Owen, who famously fell out with Shearer during his time at Newcastle, felt the same way, telling Premier League Productions: “They’ve not looked at the right angle, in my opinion. The referee needs to be given the angle from behind the goal, zoomed in.. Alan Shearer and Michael Owen were in agreement about the penalty incident and the VAR review that followed. “He believed the VAR official was at fault for not providing the referee with all the necessary angles to make a decision. “The VAR has let the referee down, in my opinion there. He’s not given him all the various angles that you need to form a full opinion of whether that’s a foul or not.. “He’s given him one angle across the 18-yard box and given it to him 10 times. He can see that after one replay, show him the whole lot, give him three, four, five angles. There are two angles that showed the shirt pull, not one of the replays showed the shirt pull and he’s going from side-on. VAR is to blame, not the referee. VAR didn’t give him the right angle.”. Ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey echoed the former England strikers’ sentiments, labelling the incident “embarrassing”. Speaking to The Sun, he said: “VAR Matt Donohue should not have got involved because referee Andy Madley’s on-field call was in no way a clear and obvious error.. Many thought Man United were lucky to have the late penalty decision overturned(Image: Getty Images). “When Madley went to the monitor on the advice of VAR he was then shown the wrong footage. They failed to take into account that Matthijs de Ligt had pulled Young back by the shirt. And had Madley been shown footage filmed from behind the goal he would have seen this. The incident was embarrassing.”. Everton manager David Moyes also expressed his confusion over the decision, admitting after the game: “I can’t understand.” He added: [De Ligt] pulled his jersey. I just thought the referee made the correct decision at the time and he should stick with it… If it’s absolutely clear and obvious that’s what we’ve got VAR for, but I didn’t think it needed to get involved.”. The Toffees took an early lead with goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure, but United fought back in the second half as Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte netted stunning strikes to get their side back on level terms. The result leaves United in 15th place, a point and a position behind Everton.. Article continues below. Owen joined the Red Devils from Newcastle in 2009. He spent three seasons on the books at Old Trafford, scoring 17 goals in 52 games, including a memorable last-gasp winner against Manchester City a month after his debut.. Our team of Manchester United experts are on top of all the goings-on at Old Trafford for this week and beyond, and you can get the latest team news, injury updates, reaction and analysis along with inside information to your phone by joining our new free WhatsApp community. You can also join the 50,000 (and growing!) band of United fans who are following our WhatsApp Channel.. –. 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.
