Fulham and Wolves wronged by VAR – panel

The video assistant referee made two mistakes in the most recent round of Premier League fixtures, says the Key Match Incidents panel.

Josh King’s goal for Fulham in the loss at Chelsea was ruled out and Wolves were not awarded a penalty in their defeat by Everton, both on 30 August.

King scored after 22 minutes, only for it to be chalked off following a lengthy VAR review for a foul by Rodrigo Muniz in the build-up.

Muniz was deemed to have fouled Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah when he trod on his foot as he turned near the halfway line.

The panel, which reviews the big refereeing decisions in the Premier League each week, agreed that VAR Michael Salisbury was wrong to intervene and referee Rob Jones was wrong to subsequently disallow the goal.

The panel wrote: “The panel unanimously supported the original on-field call to allow play to continue and award the goal.”

It also said Wolves should have been awarded a penalty for Iliman Ndiaye’s foul on Hugo Bueno in the 3-2 loss to Everton.

Three of the five members of the panel said VAR Craig Pawson’s decision not to intervene was a mistake.

“The contact made is careless and the panel felt a penalty should have been awarded and that VAR should have intervened on the basis it was a clear and obvious error in not penalising the foul,” the panel wrote.

Wolves are without a point at the bottom of the table.

Chelsea beat Fulham 2-0 thanks to Joao Pedro’s header and Enzo Fernandez’s penalty, both of which came after King’s goal was ruled out.

Fulham are without a win after three league games, and manager Marco Silva said after the game: “How you disallow a goal like that is unbelievable.

“VAR is not here to re-referee the game.”

The panel ruled that there were 18 VAR errors last season, with the majority coming from missed interventions. Only two resulted in disallowed goals.

The independent panel is made up of three former players or coaches, one Premier League representative and one from the PGMOL board.