VAR appears to have made a big blunder separate to Murillo incident vs Fulham after image emerged

Nuno Espirito Santo must feel like he’s been battling two opposition at times over the past year, with refereeing and VAR decisions baffling many at times.

Murillo was adjudged to have brought down a Fulham player by stepping on the back of his heel, which did look harsh at the time as he wasn’t even looking at the player.

VAR appears to make big error with Anthony Elanga penalty decision

As can be seen from the image above, Anthony Elanga had the ball in his possession in the box, only to have his ankle taken out by Calvin Bassey.

Even though there is a still photo that shows Bassey’s leg passing through Elanga’s back, it is mind-boggling that neither VAR nor the referee saw a glaring and obvious error. His ankle is even bent by it.
A penalty kick is granted whenever a player commits a direct free kick offence inside their penalty area, and you can’t deny that anyplace else on the field this would be classified as a free-kick.

The inconsistencies are the one thing that fans find most annoying.

Ashley Young kicked through Giovanni Reyna’s foot in a previous season penalty incident at Goodison Park, but the call was not upheld. This isn’t that dissimilar to the Murillo one.

Sue Smith’s stance on the Elanga incident

Sue Smith, when speaking on Ref Watch, stated that she thinks it was a penalty.

“You see, I mistook this for a punishment. I felt that should have been a penalty because he seemed to go through Elanga first to sweep the ball.

Dermot Gallagher expressed his opposing viewpoint in this way.

“It’s an extremely tough call, in my opinion. He catches him, but is there enough for him to fall that far? I don’t think that is a glaringly obvious mistake.

You cannot win the ball by coming through a player, gently or not, as this gives the defense an unfair advantage.