So, what do the Football Association (FA) laws say?
Law 5 states: “The referee may be assisted by a video assistant referee only in the event of a ‘clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’ in relation to: goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty, direct red card (not second caution), mistaken identity when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player of the offending team.”
A message on social media from the Premier League match centre read: “The referee’s call was a free-kick to Manchester United with Bayindir deemed to be in control of the ball before Rogers gained possession.
“The whistle was blown by the referee before the ball entered the goal, therefore the incident was not reviewable by the VAR.”
Villa captain John McGinn, speaking to TNT Sports, admitted United deserved to win but said the decision to not give the goal was “incredible”.
He added: “Everyone wanted the correct decisions when the VAR was implemented. You watch rugby… even if the referee has awarded a try and it’s wrong, it’s overturned.
“It’s so, so hard to take, especially when the impact it has on us – as a club and a team – is so big. If you were 1-0 up at that point and all you need is a point to get to the Champions League, it’s costly.
“The referee didn’t really know what to say. He is a young referee who has progressed very quickly. Maybe we could look at having more experienced referees.”
Law 12 states a goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball with the hand when:
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The ball is between the hands or between the hand and any surface or by touching it with any part of the hands or arms, except if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper has made a save
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Holding the ball in the outstretched open hand
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Bouncing it on the ground or throwing it in the air
BBC Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards were in agreement with Aston Villa, that Bayindir was not in control of the ball.
Former England striker Shearer said: “You would be absolutely raging if you were Aston Villa and rightly so.
“It is an error and the referee has blown too early so VAR can’t intervene. A huge error when you look at the ramifications.
“The keeper makes a mess of it, never has control of the ball. Morgan Rogers has every right to get the ball. I understand the anger, I really do.”
Former Manchester City defender Richards added: “It is a howler. If you look, he is not in control of the ball. The referee has made a mistake and it should have been a goal.
“He has made a mistake, as simple as that, and the problem was because the ref blew too early he couldn’t go to VAR.
“For Aston Villa to be so close, it is just not good enough. Referees make mistakes, we know they do, but he just needed to calm down.”
