'How was that not a red!?' Man City dumbfounded at VAR elbow decision as Jesus grabs 3 in final UCL group game
Manchester City were left fuming when VAR decided against taking action on what looked like a blatant elbow on midfielder Rodri on a night Gabriel Jesus grabbed a hat-trick in a 4-1 UEFA Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb.
'The Citizens' had already qualified for the knockout stage of the competition at the top of Group C ahead of the match in Croatia, but did go behind on 10 minutes at Stadion Maksimir to a Dani Olmo goal.
Nevertheless City put in a stellar performance to eventually trounce Dinamo 4-1 courtesy of a Gabriel Jesus hat-trick and a late Phil Foden goal on his 50th appearance for The Blues.
The only sour note came in a first-half incident between Spaniard Rodri and Dinamo's Amer Gojak when the two tussled for the ball in the middle of the pitch.
Replays showed Gojak appearing to clearly elbow Rodri in the face when shielding the ball, and the City player crumpling to the floor in agony.
🤬 How was this not a red!? #ManCitypic.twitter.com/W5hqXe9x2c
— WeAreMCFC (@WeAreMCFC) December 11, 2019
City fans were left gobsmacked when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviewed the incident but gave no retrospective action. The result was an outpouring of grievance online.
Var actually looked at this and decided no red card 😂 pic.twitter.com/E35nlLJYzW
— James (@JRoss075) December 11, 2019
I’m going to have to tell my children that VAR allowed this elbow on Rodri with no punishment. Embarrassing. #DINMCI#mancitypic.twitter.com/BjStCeYZyg
— Ryan Collomosse (@ryanmcollomosse) December 11, 2019
Even former FIFA and Premier League referee broke the unwritten code of referees not commenting on other referees' mistake and felt compelled to tweet: "How on earth has VAR not got involved with this serious incident missed by the match officials in Champions League match Dinamo Zagreb v ManCity."
I’m going to have to tell my children that VAR allowed this elbow on Rodri with no punishment. Embarrassing. #DINMCI#mancitypic.twitter.com/BjStCeYZyg
— Ryan Collomosse (@ryanmcollomosse) December 11, 2019
It seems that the powers that be in match officiating still work in mysterious ways as the issue of VAR and its correct implementation rumbles on.
In the group's other game, Atalanta thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 away from home to also book their place the last 16 at the expense of the Ukrainian side.
