Online Reporter
PEP Guardiola would have been leaving English football as the Prem champion AGAIN – had it not been for VAR.
SunSport has analysed the 102 decisions changed after the intervention of Stockley Park to form our “no VAR” table.
It sees games determined if the original on-field decisions had stood.
While nobody can be certain how a 380-match season would have played out without the technology that still causes controversy and outrage, it suggests that the video booth has played a huge part in the campaign.
And it will allow City fans to claim that Phil Foden’s last minute “goal” in the defeat by Aston Villa on Sunday would have been the strike to WIN the title if the on-field calls had stuck all season.
At the Etihad, Ollie Watkins was initially flagged offside before putting Villa 2-1 up, before Foden’s last-gasp leveller was ruled out.
Over the course of the season, Arsenal gained a net FIVE points through VAR-overturned decisions.
The most important of all, of course, came with West Ham‘s stoppage time “equaliser” at the London Stadium being ruled out for a foul by Pablo on David Raya, after it had been awarded on the pitch.
Mikel Arteta’s side would have won 3-1 at Newcastle – assuming they converted the penalty initially awarded when Viktor Gyokeres went down under Nick Pope’s challenge – and won 2-0 at Fulham, when a “foul” on Bukayo Saka was overturned.
But their win at Everton after a handball call against Jake O’Brien becomes a goalless draw, the 2-2 draw at Wolves is a defeat with the offside flag against Piero Hincapie remaining, in addition to the West Ham incident. It leaves Arsenal on 80 points in our table, the same as City – one fewer than they got in the final actual standings – with Foden’s “winner” against Villa seeing Pep’s men top on goal difference, standing at +34 compared to Arsenal’s +33.
While the bottom three remain the same, West Ham finish two points adrift of Nottingham Forest, rather than Spurs, who are six points and three places better off, in 14th.
And at the other end, Bournemouth would be a Champions League club in fifth, swapping places with Liverpool, Brighton up into the Europa League in seventh and Fulham taking eighth and the Conference League place.
Indeed, in our standings, Sunderland not only finish outside a European place but 13th, a point ahead of Tottenham but below Newcastle on goal difference – Sun.
