Oliver Glasner likened his Crystal Palace side’s disallowed goal in their 2-1 home defeat to Everton to England’s famous strike in the 1966 World Cup final.
The Eagles boss said “we will never know” whether the linesman was right to claim the cross headed in by Jefferson Lerma had swung out of play before entering the box.
It was a crucial moment with the game goalless at Selhurst Park and the hosts on top. After a lengthy VAR check the officials at Stockley Park were unable to find “conclusive” evidence and so stuck with the decision made on-field.
It was a valuable break for the Blues, who were on the wrong end of a shocking VAR intervention in south London 13 months ago when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was sent off in the FA Cup tie there.
The decision was later overturned on appeal.
Lerma thought he had broken the deadlock when he powered his header past Jordan Pickford.
After the linesman raised his flag, VAR checked the call and took several minutes before deciding it could not find a decisive image.
The Premier League later said: “VAR checked and confirmed the referee’s call of no goal due to the ball being out of play, with no conclusive evidence that the on-field decision was incorrect.”
Everton went on to survive a spate of first half chances before Beto dinked them ahead on the brink of half-time. Carlos Alcaraz’s late strike then delivered another three points to David Moyes after Jean-Philippe Mateta had poked Palace level.
After the match, Glasner expressed frustration at the defeat but praised the Blues for making it tough for them. He said that, for a second time this season, “small details” had been the difference between the sides – Everton came from behind to win 2-1 in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park.
He refused to complain about the disallowed goal, accepting it was unclear whether it should have stood and, in doing so, comparing it to Sir Geoff Hurst’s second goal for England in the World Cup final against Germany, when the ball thundered off the bar and sparked a debate about whether it crossed the line that continues to rage almost 60 years later.
He said: “I think this will be like the Wembley goal in 1966, nobody will know because there is no camera angle that will solve it, no goal-line technology that will solve it, the linesman decided in that way so we have to accept it.
