Sheffield United boss has blasted VAR commenting that it’s “not helping the game” after his team were downed two goals away to Man City.
The referee should have stopped the game par the rules after getting in the way of a pass which led to Man City’s first goal but that was not the case on Sunday night.
In form Kevin DeBruyne added the second as Sheffield United loss away for the first time since January.
“I’ve been to see the referee and he has been honest about it. We make mistakes and I believe he made one too,” BBC Sport confirmed Wilder’s comments.
“It happened that quick and I thought he could have been helped by his colleagues a little bit.
“We talk about the new rule where if the referee touches the ball then he has to blow his whistle and stop play, so surely if he is in the way and hinders us then he has to make a sensible decision.
“He should do the sensible and correct thing. I am not saying we would have won the game, or got a result, but it changes the game.”
While we can argue that the referee should have stopped the game and get on and on about whether VAR should have done something, we could even dive into the myth that VAR in the Premier League is bias and selective, we cannot ignore a performance from Sheffield United which was a complete deviation from status quo as they registered no shot on target and conceded more fouls in the game. They just didn’t challenge the game enough and the possession stats underlines that.
City boss, Pep Guardiola speaking had huge respect for the opposition though;
“We had a short time to recover and faced a strong team. Not just mentally but physically against Sheffield United. They are good in the long balls, defending. It’s not a secret where they are in the table.”
It was his hundredth win with City:
“Of course we proud of everything in these seasons, the incredible effort. When you think about 100 wins in 134 games it is an incredible achievement. It is nice to be alongside these big teams. It means a lot.”
Sheffield United position remains unchanged on the log at 8th though it’s a big drop from before Christmas and City stay 3rd.