‘Get rid of VAR’ – should Henderson have seen red in FA Cup final?

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson was at the centre of attention during Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

The England goalkeeper superbly kept out Omar Marmoush’s penalty by diving full stretch to his right and made a stunning save to deny Jeremy Doku’s curling effort in the first half.

But should the Palace number one have been on the pitch to make those vital interventions?

City defender Josko Gvardiol played a long ball over the top for Erling Haaland to chase on to and Henderson hesitated, before stretching out a hand outside the box to divert the ball away from the City striker.

As occurs with every decision, the video assistant referee (VAR) checked the incident and allowed play to continue without any sanction.

The explanation given was: “The direction in which Erling Haaland was going made it possible, but not an obvious goal scoring opportunity”.

Henderson’s handball came just outside the box, pushing the ball away from goal and towards the corner flag.

Had he not got that touch, Haaland would have had the chance to control the ball and aim a strike towards goal, but Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix had sprinted back to cover.

A goalkeeper handling the ball outside the box is not an automatic red card and VAR can only call the decision back for a dismissal, but decided Haaland was not denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Rooney, who won the FA Cup with victory for United against Palace in 2016, was incredulous on BBC punditry duty, saying: “It is a red card – 100% a red card.

” Erling Haaland is about to knock it around him and Dean Henderson sweeps the ball away.

“It is a red card – how can they get this wrong”?

After hearing the VAR reaction, Rooney added: “Just get rid of VAR.

” They have made a mistake and now they are trying to cover up. It is a red card and everyone can see it’s a red card.

“To come out with all this rubbish..”.

Former England captain Alan Shearer added: “Dean Henderson was slightly fortunate.