Roy Hodgson has “no complaints” after Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was used to help award Brighton‘s winner as Crystal Palace were knocked out of the FA Cup.
Referee Andre Marriner listened to instructions in an earpiece after Glenn Murray’s late winner was being reviewed by Neil Swarbrick, sitting in a control room in west London, and ruled as legal over concerns of handball.
The award of the goal did not stop Crystal Palace from protesting their case to Marriner and Hodgson admits he initially agreed with his players before reviewing the incident.
“From where we were standing and watching it looked for all the world like he’d handled it,” Hodgson told reporters.
“The players close by thought so too, but to be fair when you see it lots of times it’s a very good case for the VAR and the referee to make. If he didn’t actually handle it, it was very, very close, so I have no complaints about that.
“I think what confuses it is it does come off his thigh but of course he throws his chest and arm towards the ball.
“But I don’t think it actually touches it, so on this occasion, having seen it several times myself, I think he made the decision correct and congratulations to them.”
