Pep Guardiola admits he ‘never trusted’ VAR as ‘outrageous’ Arsenal goal decision labelled ‘a scandal’ | OneFootball

Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has admitted he has “never trusted” VAR after a major decision went Arsenal’s way.

Guardiola‘s comments were made in response to VAR and referee Chris Kavanagh deciding to disallow West Ham United’s late equaliser against Arsenal at the weekend.

West Ham looked to have stolen a point as Callum Wilson found the net, but the goal, following a prolonged VAR review, was rightly disallowed as Pablo was adjudged to have impeded goalkeeper David Raya.

This decision has had major implications on the situation at the top and bottom of the Premier League, with Arsenal now two wins away from winning the title. 

Guardiola did not openly take issue with the decision on Wilson’s goal, but he has explained why he has “never trusted anything” with VAR.

“What is important is tomorrow, then we’ll see what happens when we get to the next one. I always learned that when you lose focus, you’re in a dangerous situation,” Guardiola told reporters.

“Only we can do what we have to do and do it better. That is only in our control.

“We lost the two FA Cup finals because the referees didn’t do their job that they should do. Even the VAR. When this happened, it’s because we have to do better. Not the referees. I have never trusted anything [with VAR] since I arrived a long time ago.

“You have to do it better. Do it better. If you want to be in that position, do better because you have to blame yourselves.

“That [VAR] is a flip of a coin. You have to do it better yourself. That is Crystal Palace, focus, focus and focus. Of course, it’s not in our hands in this Premier League. I always said to the players when I arrived here and in Barcelona and Bayern Munich: ‘Guys do it better’.

“The other one is a job for the statements and institutions which rule the competition.”

“I think the decision was outrageous… a scandal.”

Unsurprisingly, former Premier League boss Sam Allardyce has given a far more scathing assessment, claiming that the decision to disallow West Ham’s goal was “outrageous” and a “scandal”.

“Based on what’s gone on in the Premier League for the past few seasons, I don’t think Sunday’s decision was correct,” Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.

“Arsenal have got away with scoring goals without free kicks given against them so many times this year.

“The BBC then brought a former referee in Darren Cann on Match of the Day – well the referee isn’t going to say he’s got it wrong, is he! It’s so biased!

“I think the decision was outrageous, based on the amount of times freekicks don’t get given against the goalkeeper for that sort of thing. I’d say it’s a single figure percentage for the number of times goalkeepers are given the benefit of the doubt that they’ve been fouled.

“There’s so much pulling, shoving and pushing that never gets given, so to give this one in such a big game – irrespective of how you look back at it – is a scandal.

“The game has become a war in the penalty box – it’s become rugby, not football. It’s just all nonsense.”