Premier League refereeing and VAR mistakes revisited

The single moment that won’t go away

Some errors stay alive because the margins were so tight.

• Manchester City’s 1-0 win at Everton in 2022 remains one of the clearest examples.
• Rodri handled the ball in the area, but Everton were not given a penalty.
• The update says referees’ chief Mike Riley later accepted the call was wrong.

City eventually finished just one point clear of Liverpool. That is why these moments never feel isolated. A non-call in February can become a defining talking point in May.

VAR’s promise - and its limits

Technology was supposed to remove the obvious mistakes. In some cases, it has. In others, it has produced a different kind of failure.

The Luis Díaz offside error for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur was not a judgement call so much as a communication collapse. The review identified the problem, but the process still failed and Tottenham won 2-1. Arsenal also felt the consequences when Ivan Toney’s goal for Brentford stood after an offside line was not drawn in the correct phase.

That is why VAR debate never really ends: fans can accept imperfection more easily than procedural chaos.

Before VAR, the damage was just as real

Older supporters can still picture Pedro Mendes seeing a clear goal for Tottenham at Old Trafford not given in 2005. And then there was the beach-ball goal that hurt Liverpool against Sunderland - absurd, avoidable and still remembered.

The next flashpoint is never far away. As another Premier League season unfolds, every tight finish, every title swing and every review-room error will keep the same question alive: not whether officiating matters, but how much it may end up deciding.