As Man City were held to a 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig in the 1st leg of the Champions League, VAR stole the headlines once again after Benjamin Henrichs’ blatant handball inside the box did not lead to a penalty for the visitors at the Red Bull Arena right at the very end.
Well, BT Sport have confirmed, as relayed by City Xtra that VAR did not check whether it was a penalty, as Man City could well have had the golden opportunity to return home with a win under their belt.
Unfortunately for the Sky Blues, they have been extremely unfortunately with refereeing decisions since the World Cup, from the infamous Bruno Fernandes goal in the Manchester Derby to being denied stonewall spot-kicks in games against Wolves and Nottingham Forest as well.
While Man City perhaps deserve to share the spoils against RB Leipzig in what was an even contest, it does come as a surprise that VAR failed to step in to award them a deserved penalty right at the end.
After the game, Pep Guardiola said, as relayed by City Xtra once again, “I didn’t see it, so I cannot talk, but I know what happened in these situations.”
VAR aside, Man City flattered to deceive
In the 1st half, while the Premier League champions did not particularly dazzle despite being 1-0 up courtesy of a Riyad Mahrez strike, they did completely stifle a side with as much quality as Marco Rose’s men.
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However, VAR aside, things went awry for Man City in the 2nd half, as they let RB Leipzig in the game and while Josko Gvardiol’s equaliser remains contentious alongside the penalty, due to the extent of the contact he made with Ruben Dias to score, it was deserved on the balance of play.
City simply failed to control proceedings for large chunks of the game and after a positive initial 45, underwhelmed in both boxes.
However, with stalwarts such as Kevin De Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones likely to return for the second leg, they are strong favorites to do the business at the Etihad Stadium.