Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford has blasted VAR following the contentious decision to rule out a strike against Crystal Palace.
In between strikes from Scott Dann and Eberechi Eze, which put Palace two goals to the good, Bamford thought he had drawn Marcelo Bielsa’s side back on terms with a chipped finish.
He was to be proven wrong, however, as the effort was disallowed after a check from the video assistant referee.
“It’s ruining the game I think,” he explained to the club’s media.
“I thought it was just a formality and that it would be fine. I’ve just seen it back there and I don’t know. I’ve been playing seven years and I don’t understand the rule now. You can’t score with your hand or your arm, so if your hand or your arm is offside, how is that offside?
“They need to make it clearer. No-one really knows.”
Bamford, who later grab Leeds' consolation, said that he checked with the match officials, but they were unable to give him a satisfactory answer as to why his effort had been disallowed.
“The ref, when I asked him, didn’t really know. I’m not just saying that because it’s my goal, I’ve seen many on the TV previously.”
It has been suggested that a change in the handball law during the summer, which now means that the ball can be legally played with the top part of the arm, was responsible for the decision to chalk the goal off.
Such calls have littered the Premier League this season, with the likes of Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling all having close decisions go against them.
Leeds would go on to lose their match with Palace 4-1.
“It could have been a different game,” Bamford lamented. “They deserved to win, I’m not denying that, but things could have been different.”
Leeds have two weeks to stew over the decision before they face Arsenal in their next Premier League outing.
Patrick Bamford 
Leeds Utd 
Man Utd 
Liverpool 
Chelsea 
Arsenal 
Man City 
Everton 
Wolves 
