Ruben Amorim‘s first match in charge of Manchester United against Ipswich was bizarrely halted after a fire alarm occurred at Stockley Park.
Stockley Park, which is 110 miles away from Ipswich’s home stadium Portman Road, is where the Premier League‘s video assistant referees make VAR decisions remotely, communicating with on-field officials over the course of each match.
The fire alarm, which went off in the 37th minute while United were leading Ipswich 1-0, caused the game to pause temporarily.
Captains Bruno Fernandes and Sam Morsy were called to the middle by match referee Anthony Taylor, who explained the situation before deciding to carry on with his assistants Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn – and without the use of VAR.
Moments later, Ipswich winger Omari Hutchinson levelled the scoreboard with a stunning strike in the 43rd minute.
The new Manchester United boss can have no complaints with the superb equaliser, at least as far as VAR is concerned, as there was no contentious issue for the video technology to review, had it been working.
Ruben Amorim’s first Man United match was halted after a fire alarm occurred at Stockley Park
The Portuguese manager’s side were leading 1-0 before VAR went down during the match
The home side equalised during the six minute spell without VAR, heading into the break at 1-1
Refereeing chiefs PGMOL will have breathed a huge sigh relief over the uncomplicated nature of Hutchinson’s goal, given they have been at the centre of several controversial matters already this campaign.
VAR was back up and running after Hutchinson’s celebration, leading to the two sides heading in 1-1 at the break.
Shortly after the initial stoppage, a statement from the Premier League Match Centre said on social media platform X: ‘The match will be operating without VAR until further notice due to a fire alarm at the VAR Hub at Stockley Park.’
Marcus Rashford, who had been trusted by Amorim to lead the line for United, opened the scoring early on with a smart tap-in, making the Portuguese manager only the second permanent boss in Premier League history to score inside two minutes during his first match in charge.
The other, who also managed Manchester United earlier in his career, was David Moyes who achieved the feat with Everton back in 2002.
Manchester United were 13th in the Premier League table upon Amorim’s arrival at Old Trafford, having slipped as low as 14th before the sacking of former manager Erik ten Hag.
Club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy was instilled as the Red Devils’ interim boss and underwent an undefeated run before Amorim opted to relieve him of his coaching duties upon arriving in Manchester.
More to follow.