Richard Keys slams officials over something he saw in Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Richard Keys was left baffled after John McGinn had a goal disallowed in the first half of the Premier League game between Aston Villa and Bournemouth on Saturday (26 October).
McGinn thought he had given the Villans the lead against Fulham at Villa Park when he curled the ball into the top-left corner from 10 yards out in the 28th minute.
However, the goal was overruled after a VAR concluded that the ball had just gone out for a goal-kick before Ollie Watkins played it back to the Scot.
While replays showed the ball going over the line, Keys did not understand why the goal was disallowed and said the officials were “guessing”.
“Here we go. Disallowed goal at Villa because VAR ruled the ball was out of play”, Keys wrote on X (26 October).
“I’ve seen nothing to prove it was. Right now it looks as though they were guessing.
“I’m waiting for proof – or they have to go with the on-field decision.”
In a later post addressing a freezeframe showing the ball going out, Keys, who has previously been approving of Villa and Unai Emery, pointed out that the evidence was not conclusive.
“I’ve seen only arguable evidence. No ‘proof’ – only a decision to be made by the eye – so the goal has to stand”, he wrote on X.
VAR decision frustrates Aston Villa and John McGinn
McGinn scored his first goal of the season in the 2-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Bologna on Tuesday (22 October).
The Scotland international thought he had opened the scoring for his team again and added another goal to his tally, but it was not to be.
It was a huge disappointment not only for McGinn but also for his Aston Villa teammates as they had already finished celebrating when the goal was disallowed.
Keys might have a point as it is hard to make out if the ball had entirely gone out from the freezeframe shown during the telecast.
While there appeared to be a bit of grass between the ball and the line, one cannot be sure if the entire circumference of the ball had gone out.
This is perhaps why the Premier League needs to introduce a system similar to goalline technology to check if the ball has gone out of play in other areas of the pitch.
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