VAR sparks disbelief as Brighton denied at Fulham

A prominent radio football presenter was among those left baffled by the VAR call that denied Danny Welbeck a crucial goal at Fulham.

The Brighton striker thought he had restored his side’s lead after converting following superb play from Kaoru Mitoma, sparking celebrations as Albion appeared to go 2-1 ahead.

However, the joy was short-lived as VAR intervened, quickly turning excitement into uncertainty and then frustration.

Video assistant referee Tony Harrington reviewed the incident and judged Welbeck to be offside, with a marginal part of his arm deemed beyond the defensive line.

The decision was based on lines drawn in relation to Fulham centre-back Jorge Cuenca, and referee Michael Oliver was subsequently advised to chalk the goal off.

TalkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham was one of several high-profile voices who felt the decision was harsh. Reacting on X, he wrote: “Come on now… this is not offside.”

As is often the case, the Premier League released a brief statement explaining the outcome, offering little more than confirmation of the ruling. Their post said: “VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Welbeck was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed.”

Earlier in the season, Fulham themselves benefited from public sympathy when Florian Wirtz appeared offside before scoring for Liverpool at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva referenced that moment, along with a separate incident against Crystal Palace, acknowledging that his side were on the right end of a fine margin on this occasion.

For Brighton, the decision added to recent VAR frustrations, coming just days after a penalty was awarded to Bournemouth against them following a review. Head coach Fabian Hürzeler admitted the call was difficult to take but stressed the need to move on.

“It depends on when they stop the tape, when they say ‘now it’s the touch,’” he said. “For me, it’s objective and you have to accept it.

“We controlled everything we could today. We can’t control VAR, we can’t control individual errors. We have to accept that in football, sometimes mistakes happen.”