Mateo Kovacic escaped a red card for two reckless tackles in Manchester City’s match against Arsenal, sparking controversy among fans and pundits alike.
Kovacic’s first challenge was a lunging tackle on Martin Odegaard that caught the Arsenal midfielder’s ankle on the follow-through. The referee, Michael Oliver, awarded a yellow card, but VAR failed to intervene.
Just minutes later, Kovacic made another reckless challenge on Declan Rice, this time from behind. Oliver once again awarded a yellow card, and VAR again failed to intervene.
Pundits and fans were left baffled by VAR’s decision not to overturn Oliver’s decisions, with many arguing that Kovacic should have been sent off for both tackles.
In this video, we take a closer look at Kovacic’s two challenges and discuss why VAR should have intervened in both cases. We also talk about the wider issue of VAR’s inconsistency, and why it is a growing concern for fans and players alike.
#kovacic #arsenal #odegaard #arsenal #declanrice #manchestercity
4 Comments
It's only a matter of time before VAR considers many upgrades since its objective is meant to ensure fair as well as clean football is played week after week in the best league in the world…The EPL.
On the positive side, such repeated mistakes will eventually lead to improvements to everyone's satisfaction. Teams, players, clubs and most importantly the all club dear fans. The sooner VAR improves, the better.
If the Manchester United version of Ibrahimovic had made that tackle, he’d not only have gotten a straight red, he’d’ve also been jailed and sent back to Sweden.
Clearly red card, both of them😮
I thin without VAR the red sends him off. I think referees are scared to make big calls like that and rely on VAR too much.