'Is the VAR broken?' Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish furious with lack of penalty vs Manchester United

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George Flood16 July 2020

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish was left deeply unhappy by the lack of VAR intervention during Thursday night's Premier League clash against Manchester United.

The hosts were denied a late first-half penalty at Selhurst Park after Wilfried Zaha went down inside the box following a challenge from Victor Lindelof, with referee Graham Scott failing to point to the spot.

VAR official Simon Hooper did review the incident at Stockley Park, only to determine that Lindelof had got the slightest touch on the ball before catching the Palace winger.

The sense of frustration was compounded just minutes later when Marcus Rashford struck to give United the lead just before the interval.

"Is the VAR broken? Serious question," Parish tweeted after the penalty incident.

Palace also saw a second-half equaliser from Jordan Ayew ruled out for offside following a VAR check.

That was a less controversial decision than on Sunday, when Eagles centre-back Mamadou Sakho was denied a seventh-minute opener against relegation-threatened Aston Villa after VAR ruled the Frenchman had handled the ball, despite it appearing to hit his shoulder.

Palace went on to suffer their fifth successive league defeat at Villa Park.

"How can they look at Sakho ‘handball’ for minutes to make their ‘mind up’ and not even give that a glance!" Parish added regarding the challenge on Zaha.

"It’s a stonewall nailed on penalty even the most one eyed Man U fan knows it."

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