Leicester’s Iheanacho scores first VAR goal in English football
The Foxes reached the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 win over Fleetwood Town.
Leicester City’s striker Kelechi Iheanacho became the first player in English football to be awarded a goal via a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision.
The 21-year-old Nigerian initially had a goal disallowed for offside in Leicester’s FA Cup match against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday.
However, referee Jonathan Moss asked for the decision to be reviewed; VAR clearly showed that the former Manchester City striker was onside.
The Foxes went on to win the match 2-0 and advanced to the FA Cup fourth round.
“I don’t know if I was onside,” Iheanacho
It took over a minute for the decision to be changed. Fleetwood’s Nathan Pond was evidently lined with Iheanacho.
“I didn’t know if I was onside or offside but I agree totally now that I was onside,” the Nigerian told BT Sport.
“I was concentrating on the goal, I didn’t think if I was onside or offside but Riyad (Mahrez) told me that I was onside. We just waited to see what the decision was.”
This is only the third time VAR has been trialed in English football. Previously it was used in Brighton v Crystal Palace in the FA Cup and Chelsea v Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, both in which VAR was never used to reverse a decision.
“It was a good thing for us,” Puel
Speaking to BT Sport, Leicester’s boss, Claude Puel, said the situation showed the importance of VAR.
“It was a good thing for us,” Puel said.
“The video is not perfect because we should have had free-kicks for fouls on (Vicente) Iborra but for the goal it was good.”
However, Fleetwood Town’s coach, Uwe Rosler, has a different opinion about the technology usage.
“For me, can they really say he is onside for the second goal or are they guessing?
“VAR is not 100% clear because we still don’t see everything,” he said.