Video assistant referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made and are they correct?

This season, we take a look at the major incidents to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game.

Andy Davies (@andydaviesref) is a former Select Group referee, with over 12 seasons on the elite list, working across the Premier League and Championship. With extensive experience at the elite level, he has operated within the VAR space in the Premier League and offers a unique insight into the processes, rationale and protocols that are delivered on a Premier League matchday.

Referee: Darren England
VAR: John Brooks

Time: 44th minute
Incident: Possible handball in the box worth a penalty kick

What happened: Chelsea whipped in a corner and Arsenal’s Declan Rice, while challenging to clear the ball, appeared to move his elbow towards and contacted with the ball as it dropped. Referee Darren England was unmoved and waved away any appeals.

VAR decision: The referee’s call of no penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was no punishable handball offence with Rice challenging an opponent as the ball hit his arm.

VAR review: As with all VAR reviews, the starting point is the on-field decision and referee live communication. Any VAR intervention is only triggered by clear video evidence that an error has been made.

Referee Darren England had a good view of this incident and would have communicated that Rice’s contact on the ball was within normal physical engagement with his opponent whilst jumping to head the ball, confirming that no clear handball offence had been committed. VAR John Brooks didn’t feel that the video evidence provided any detail that the referee had not described, nor did any act by Rice clearly met the criteria for a handball offence. He cleared the incident as a correct on-field call.

Verdict: The Premier League referees do set a high bar in relation to penalising handballs, which should be recognised.

Watching this live, I would have been surprised if this was awarded as a handball offence given the dynamics of which the contact with the arm occurred. However, a defender who moves their arm in these types of situations is running a risk of being penalised, for sure.

When processing a possible hand ball offence, considerations around what is a reasonable position and movement of arm in relation to the player’s action is important. Rice was jumping for a ball, with his arms naturally high and engaged with his opponent and, whilst there was some movement of the arm, it wasn’t an indisputable act to make himself bigger.

Handball continues to be the most difficult and at times contentious area of law to apply in live play. I believe the Premier League are in a good place currently with these situations, where only the very obvious standout situations are penalised.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: Tony Harrington

Time: 52nd minute
Incident: Penalty and possible red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO)

What happened: Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes played a brilliant ball into attacker Matheus Cunha, who had turned Palace defender Maxence Lacroix and was heading toward goal. Lacroix — whose fourth-minute goal had given Palace the lead at Old Trafford — grabbed the shoulder of Cunha, who went to ground, and referee Chris Kavanagh quickly pointed to the spot. The VAR confirmed the penalty, but also recommended an on-field review for a possible red card to Lacroix for DOGSO.

VAR decision: After the VAR review, the referee overturned his original decision of no red card to Lacroix. Kavanagh announced to the crowd: “After review, Crystal Palace No. 5 commits a clear holding offense which denies a clear, obvious, goal-scoring opportunity. The final decision is a penalty and red card.”

A HUGE refereeing decision ends with a penalty to Man United and red card for Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix. 👀 pic.twitter.com/k7064Skgu9

— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) March 1, 2026

VAR review: The first check for the VAR was to confirm that a foul had been committed by the Palace defender and that its location was inside the penalty area. The pull was clear, starting outside the area and continuing into the box, meaning that the on-field decision of penalty was cleared. Secondly, the review focused on whether the foul stopped Cunha having a clear opportunity to score a goal. The VAR considerations in this situation would be:

– distance from goal
– direction of play
– attackers’ likelihood of retaining possession of the ball

The key to reviewing this type of incident is pausing the footage at the exact point the foul contact occurs. Sometimes allowing the footage to continue to run gives a false picture that the ball is out of playing distance for the attacker, which can alter a DOGSO judgement outcome.

Harrington felt these circumstances met all the criteria for a DOGSO and recommended an on-field review. Once at the screen, Kavanagh agreed with the VAR’s judgement of the incident and sent Lacroix off.

Fernandes converted the penalty, and eight minutes later, with Palace reduced to 10 men, Benjamin Sesko scored what proved to be the winning goal that sent United up to third in the Premier League table.

Verdict: Correct on-field decision by Kavanagh to award the penalty and good intervention from the VAR to recommend a red card for DOGSO. Once on the wrong side of the defender, Cunha has a clear path toward goal with his next touch likely to be a shot on goal.

The nature of the challenge by Lacroix was the determining factor in what sanction he received for committing the offense. An upper-body holding offense, with no attempt or opportunity to play or win the ball, is still a red card. However, an attempt to challenge for a ball, where there is an opportunity to be successful, would result in a yellow card only. Good decision and process from the referee and VAR.

MANCHESTER, England — Of all the things Ruben Amorim said during his time as Manchester United‘s head coach, the one that annoyed his bosses most was something about Benjamin Sesko.

Asked in November about the 22-year-old striker, signed for £73.7 million from RB Leipzig in the summer, Amorim said it was “a fact” that he had “struggled” to come to terms with the Premier League. The view from above was that the comments weren’t helpful to a young player trying to adapt to a tough league in a new country.

Sesko scored two goals in 17 games for Amorim. But since Amorim’s departure in early January, Sesko has seven goals in eight.

Starting under Michael Carrick for the first time Sunday, Sesko scored for the third game in a row as United came from a goal down to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 and move up to third in the table behind Arsenal and Manchester City.

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“I’m delighted for Ben,” said Carrick. “We’re working closely with him and connecting with him and building that relationship and trust. A lot is on Ben. He has put the work in. He is a good player and he has got some great strengths and scoring different types of goals.

“He is such a real threat. I am really excited where he can get to. He has got huge potential.”

Sesko is not just scoring goals — he’s scoring important goals. In his past three games, he has a stoppage-time equalizer against West Ham United, the winner against Everton and another winner against Palace.

Since Amorim was sacked, Sesko’s Premier League goals against Burnley, Fulham, West Ham, Everton and Palace have earned the team eight points. Without them, United would be outside the top six. Instead, Carrick’s team is third with 10 games left and on course to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2023.

“He has had a huge impact and he’s making big improvements,” said Carrick. “Part of it is getting used to being here. He is desperate to do well, he works so hard and he is a pleasure to work with. It’s a fantastic goal.”

Sesko’s revival started under Amorim’s initial replacement, Darren Fletcher. After the Slovenia international scored twice in United’s 2-2 draw with Burnley, Fletcher revealed he used the day before the game to show Sesko a video “showing his movement and showing his goals.”

The run of form which started at Turf Moor has continued under Carrick. Fletcher said he told Sesko he “needs to keep believing,” and there has been a similar boost of confidence delivered by Carrick.

Shortly after scoring at Everton, Sesko stopped in the mixed zone to tell reporters that one of the big changes is that “everyone believes in me.” It became an open secret toward the end of Amorim’s reign that he wanted to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins instead. If Carrick has injected some self-belief into Sesko, the former England midfielder also deserves credit for playing to his strengths.

One of the criticisms of Amorim’s football was that he played with a central striker, but didn’t appear to ask his wide players to put crosses into the box. Sesko started Amorim’s last game in charge — a 1-1 draw at Leeds United on Jan. 4 — and didn’t have a shot on target. Under Carrick, his goals against Fulham, West Ham and Palace all came from crosses whipped in from wide areas.

With long limbs and a gangly style, Sesko can still sometimes look awkward when asked to take part in the buildup. But at 6-foot-5, he’s terrific in the air and sharp in and around the penalty area. His goal against Palace was a bullet header.

First, Bruno Fernandes equalized with a penalty following an incident for which Maxence Lacroix — Palace’s goal scorer in the first half — was sent off for pulling back Matheus Cunha. Then Fernandes popped up on the right and delivered a cross from which Sesko darted ahead of Jaydee Canvot and arrowed his finish past former United goalkeeper Dean Henderson. He went off 10 minutes later to a standing ovation.

“We were a bit off to start with and they started really well,” said Carrick, who has now registered six wins from seven games in charge. “At about 20 minutes it started turning in our favor and we finished the half stronger and then talked to them at halftime about being in that position and showing personality and belief.

“To come back like we did in the second half and to turn the game in our favor is the biggest thing. To put together the run we have and to do it in different ways is encouraging to me.”

United are flying, and so is Sesko. No other Premier League team is unbeaten since Boxing Day, and no player in the league has scored more non-penalty goals in 2026 than Sesko.

Amorim’s reign looks worse with every win under Carrick, while every Sesko goal makes those “struggling” comments look ever more misplaced. United are heading for a Champions League return, and Sesko is proving the doubters wrong.

If you can’t beat them, join them. Liverpool were slow to get on board with the Premier League‘s set-piece revolution, but their willingness to embrace the game’s increasingly agricultural approach has been instrumental in their recent revival, including in Saturday’s 5-2 victory over West Ham United at Anfield.

When Alexis Mac Allister drilled home the hosts’ third goal of the afternoon in front of the Kop, he ensured Liverpool became just the second team in Premier League history to score three goals from corners in the first half of a match, after Manchester United against Leicester City in September 2016. It is the kind of statistic that would have seemed preposterous in the early months of the campaign, when the Reds’ lack of proficiency at both scoring and defending set pieces negatively impacted their fortunes on an almost weekly basis.

Liverpool’s woes in that department were so pronounced that the club opted to part company with set-piece coach Aaron Briggs in December — although manager Arne Slot publicly defended his former colleague when grilled on the matter last week.

“It would be very unfair to Aaron, who was only partly responsible for that, because in the end I’m responsible for everything,” Slot said. “In the end it’s always my responsibility. But we were, in that period of time, so, so, so unlucky.”

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On the evidence of Saturday’s first-half showing, that luck has now started to change. Having been perennial slow starters in the top flight this season, Liverpool raced into an early lead when Ryan Gravenberch recycled possession from a corner and picked out Hugo Ekitike, who finished smartly past Mads Hermansen at the near post.

It was Ekitike’s 11th league goal of the season and his 16th in all competitions, making the France international the first Liverpool player to reach 20 goal contributions this term, with four assists also to his name. West Ham, who had lost just one of their previous six league games ahead of this weekend’s trip to Merseyside, rallied well after the early setback but found themselves on the end of yet more set-piece misery when Virgil van Dijk rose highest to nod Dominik Szoboszlai‘s in-swinging corner into the back if the net.

Liverpool employed the same route to goal again on the stroke of halftime, with Ekitike helping Szoboszlai’s smart delivery into the path of Mac Allister, who finished with aplomb to double his Premier League goal tally for the season.

His strike was Liverpool’s seventh consecutive league goal from a non-penalty set piece — the longest run by any side in the competition’s history. While Slot was right to assert that his team’s drastic uptick in set-piece form should not be pinned on one individual, the contrast in Liverpool’s numbers is stark.

Across their first 20 Premier League matches this season, Liverpool scored just three goals from set pieces — the fewest of any team in the division. Their efficacy from corners on Saturday, however, means they have scored nine set-piece goals in their past eight league games: more than any of their competitors.

“That’s very pleasing because that is the reason we have won,” Slot said in his postmatch news conference. “In my opinion, we have played better when we have lost and conceded from set pieces. But, as I’ve always said, things went back to normal.

“We created quite a lot of chances from set pieces in the first half of the season and almost every set piece we conceded went in, and today you could see exactly the opposite happening. Their first big chance was a set piece that would have gone in, in the first six or seven months, I’m 100% sure. But then it doesn’t and we start scoring from set pieces, things start looking much better and brighter. That’s really pleasing for us, for the team and for the fans as well.”

In a season that has been characterized by late drama, Liverpool deviated from the norm by scoring three goals in the first half of a league game for the first time since the day they clinched the title against Tottenham Hotspur last April. Still, the Reds’ unwelcome habit of making life difficult from themselves once again reared its head in the second half, with Tomás Soucek diverting El Hadji Malick Diouf‘s drilled cross past Alisson Becker just four minutes after the restart.

With nothing to lose, West Ham continued to pose plenty of problems for their hosts before Cody Gakpo‘s deflected effort helped to calm some nerves around Anfield. It was only the Netherlands international’s second goal in the league since his strike in the reverse fixture at the London Stadium in late November, and his impassioned celebration suggested it was a welcome relief to find himself back on the scoresheet.

A late header from Valentín Castellanos and an even later own-goal from Axel Disasi only heightened the erratic nature of Liverpool’s second-half display, and Slot will know more control and composure is required from his team if they are to finish the season in a stronger fashion than they started it.

Nevertheless, Liverpool have now won seven of their past nine games in all competitions and are up to fifth in the Premier League, just three points behind third-placed Aston Villa. They irrefutably remain an imperfect side, and even in securing their joint-biggest top-flight win of the season, they showed there is still plenty of scope for improvement.

But having been late to the set-piece party, Liverpool now look determined to make up for lost time. It might just be the secret weapon they need to make this campaign a successful one.