Fans reckon Arsenal’s gritty clash with Man United at the peak of their bitter rivalry would’ve been abandoned if VAR was in place.
The Gunners and United locked horns in the Charity Shield back in 2003, and new footage depicting the brutal battles which happened in the match that weren’t severely punished by the referee, would’ve had a different outcome if VAR was installed, fans believe.
There was a slew of grimacing challenges by both sides that would’ve given the match official no option but to cancel the game if it took place in this day and age.
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Shocked fans flocked to Twitter to give their opinion on the bone-crunching slugfest which produced five yellow cards and one red card, that United won on penalties after the teams drew 1-1 in normal time. One supporter exclaimed: “This match would be over due to lack of players if VAR were in play.”
Another user concurred and added: “No lies .. Those were assaults and not tackles.” whilst laughing. Then a third user quipped: “This is not WWE?”
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(Image: Twitter)
United ace Phil Neville drew first blood and was booked when he clattered into Gunners star Patrick Vieira with 30 seconds on the clock. Then Vieira’s compatriot Ashley Cole also received a yellow just a minute later for steaming into Red Devils striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Vieira was the victim again when Nicky Butt sent him sprawling to the ground. But in the action-packed clip, the Frenchman exacted revenge on a United player by clipping his ankle, and received a yellow.
(Image: Twitter)
(Image: Twitter)
Paul Scholes also got in on the action when he hacked Arsenal’s Lauren to the floor, resulting in another yellow being brandished. Quinton Fortune was the next yellow card recipient after aggressively nudging Freddie Ljunberg to the floor as he raced forward onto Arsenal’s goal.
(Image: Twitter)
Despite all the brawling between the sides, only Gunners star Francis Jeffers was handed a red card for lashing out at Phil Neville during a fierce tussle for the ball that nearly ended in blows before the ref split them up. However, Jeffers’ red card didn’t prevent his team-mate Sol Campbell from unleashing a roundhouse kick on Eric Djemba-Djemba as the game drew to a close.
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