tmesisSanguineHoop Blah
Do you think it was a clear and obvious error though?
I'm not sure it was a pen myself, partly because I'm biased of course, but to me the forward was already going down because he knew he'd lost the ball and it was more a coming together than a foul.
If it was the other way around then I may well feel differently, but I just don't see how it was a clear and obvious error which, so we're told, is all that VAR is supposed to cover.
I think it was, to be honest. Yes, there was a hint of the striker going down a little early, but contact was inevitable, and occurred, and as far as I recall no England player touched the ball. I think the lack of protest on England's part said a lot.
It's weird that so many now just accept that contact = foul, despite there being nothing in the rules to say that's true.
They are now going to have to release well-publicised guidance on what does and does not constitute a foul, and the game will be worse for it, and a little bit boring. Previously we had a game we were all fairly happy with where we knew that 80% of the red cards and penalties on any edition of Match of the Day would be supported by one or two out of Gary L and his two experts but disagreed with by one or two of them. That is how it should be. Stonewall penalties and obvious red cards are actually quite rare.