JAMIE CARRAGHER was involved in a heated row with Micah Richards after Jude Bellingham had a goal controversially ruled out against Manchester City.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder thought he had equalised for the Bundesliga outfit at the Etihad, only to be wrongly judged to have fouled goalkeeper Ederson.
The incident led to Jadon Sancho to tweet that Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan ‘needs checking’ as the German side were robbed of a fair goal.
Manchester City ended up winning the Champions League quarter-final first leg 2-1 after Phil Foden swept home late on from close range.
However they should have left England with two vital away goals, had match official Hategan not blown his whistle for a foul before Bellingham tucked home his strike.
If he had waited until after the ball crossed the line, then VAR would have intervened to overrule his decision with Bellingham clearly robbing Ederson of possession instead of fouling him.
Discussing the incident on the CBS Champions League show, former Citizens right-back Richards said: “We’re talking about VAR and how we’re spoiling the game because we’re taking away from the referee managing the game…”
Interjecting, a fuming Carragher stated: “I know why you didn’t want VAR tonight, Jesus Christ! It should be 2-2.
‘That’s nonsense. It’s a unique situation, it’s not normal, that doesn’t happen often. How can you not understand this? This is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard.
“Right, he goes through and thinks it’s a foul, not a problem… but he knows if he blows that whistle it takes VAR out of the equation… yes?
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“We all know what’s going to happen. He will roll the ball in the net and then we can have a look.”
Richards then argued that nowhere in the rule book does it say that a referee must let play continue in order for VAR to intervene.
To which Carragher posed the question: “‘Do you think tonight when he goes back into the room, the people at UEFA or FIFA looking at his performance will say ‘he got that right’?”
After Richards agreed the referee made the wrong call, lead presenter Kate Abdo stepped in, where she loudly told viewers: “Men love to argue, don’t they?”
Commenting on the awful decision, Bellingham told BT Sport: “I definitely think I won the ball fairly.
“All I got told is that I’d got booked and it was a free-kick. I had my studs up apparently.
“They’ve got so many cameras and TVs watching but didn’t wait for me to then check it. You’ve got to get on to it.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
