Michael Owen defends controversial VAR decision that denied Sheffield United goal

Former England striker Michael Owen has surprisingly defended the VAR decision to deny Sheffield United a goal against Tottenham Hotspur.

VAR took almost four minutes to decide that John Lundstram was in a marginal offside position, with the pass to Lundstram taking place a couple of phases of play before the eventual goal actually took place.

Pundits like Gary Lineker, Andy Gray and Jeff Stelling were among those to share their bemusement with the decision which robbed Sheffield United of an equaliser, with the score eventually finishing 1-1.

The predominant view may have been that VAR made a mistake, but a certain Michael Owen does not agree.

Speaking on Twitter, the former Liverpool man shared his belief that VAR made the correct decision.

He said: “I can’t believe the backlash VAR is getting from yesterday (Saturday). I’m struggling to see what it got wrong. Previous weeks yes, but yesterday? The S.Utd offside was close but if a ball is 1 inch over the line we praise the technology. When it’s offside by 1 inch people go nuts. Why?”

Several people responded to Owen after his comments, with some pointing out that VAR technology is by definition not 100% accurate on offside decisions.

m_w890: said: “The technology isnt 100% accurate Michael. So it's not definitely correct.”

Alexkeble: “Because hawkeye tracks the ball precisely, whereas the technology for VAR relies on the frame rate of the cameras - which isn't high enough to be accurate to more than 30cm. So the still from which they draw the lines is unreliable.”

NoToVAR5: “Are you seriously suggesting that 3mins 47seconds to determine that this big toe was (possibly) offside is acceptable? You may have been a brilliant footballer Michael but you clearly don’t understand your audience / the fans!!!”