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Football

12th Jan 2021

Harry Maguire furious as Robbie Brady avoids punishment for Cavani challenge

Patrick McCarry

There was a VAR review, and it eventually ended with Luke Shaw getting a yellow

Events were going along serenely at Turf Moor until there was all-out VAR replays after replays. When it was all said and done, Robbie Brady had a yellow card scrubbed off while Luke Shaw got cautioned.

27 minutes into the Tuesday evening Premier League clash, Shaw slid in for a 50/50 with Burnley’s Jóhann Berg Gudmundsson. The Icelandic international went down in a heap but referee Kevin Friend waved play on.

Shaw found Bruno Fernandes on the left wing and his raking pass evaded Ben Mee and put Edinson Cavani through on goal. The Uruguayan looked to round the Irish midfielder but Brady chopped him down. Friend ran up and flashed a yellow at Brady but United captain Harry Maguire was far from pleased.

With the United players calling for a VAR check to prove Brady was the last man, Friend was advised to check out the sideline monitor.

There was a four-minute delay in the game as first the Shaw challenge and then Brady’s foul were checked. Eventually, Friend opted to award a foul against shaw, thus rendering the Brady foul on Cavani void.

As Gary Neville, on commentary duty for Sky Sports, noted, both managers would probably be happy enough with the outcome. Brady was cleared of wrong-doing and Shaw was fortunate that he just saw yellow for the challenge on Gudmundsson.

To further irk Maguire, the United captain had a goal ruled out by the linesman for putting his hand on the bak of a Burnley defender before he headed past Nick Pope.

Level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League standings, a draw or win would put United clear of the champions before both clubs’ Sunday showdown at Anfield.