‘It was obviously a goal’ - Scott McTominay on Manchester United VAR decision and win vs Tottenham

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Tom Doyle11 April 2021

Scott McTominay refused to criticise referee Chris Kavanagh for his decision to deny Manchester United an early goal during their comeback win at Tottenham, though claimed it was “obviously” the wrong decision.

Cavani had a goal controversially ruled out in the first half after McTominay was adjudged to have caught Heung-min Son with a trailing arm during the build-up, with Kavanagh awarding Spurs a free-kick following a VAR review.

Son quickly put Spurs ahead following that incident, but United used channelled their sense of injustice after the break into a devastating performance with three goals from Fred, Cavani and Greenwood to seal three points.

Former United captain Roy Keane called the referee’s decision to deny United a goal “bizarre” and branded Son’s reaction “embarrassing”, though McTominay refused to be drawn into criticising the officials beyond stating it was the wrong call.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of talk about that, but the referees have a tough job,” McTominay told Sky Sports.

“I’m personally not a fan of VAR, but that’s part and parcel of the game now. It was obviously a goal, the referee’s made a mistake, but that happens, everyone makes mistakes in life.

“At the time you can’t accept it, but you’ve just got to get on with the game.”

Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
Pool via REUTERS

Regarding Solskjaer’s half-time team talk, McTominay said: “We were going in at half-time frustrated, but the message from the manager was, ‘Keep calm, there’s no need to panic, we’ve been in this situation before’, so it was a brilliant win.

“Sometimes that’s the way football goes, but we do have to start getting better in the first 30 minutes.

“We dominated the whole second half to be fair, so it’s a brilliant win.”

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