‘Diabolical’ Bruno Fernandes red card slammed by Alan Shearer in passionate VAR rant

Alan Shearer has lashed out at the handling of Bruno Fernandes' red card at the weekend, calling it "diabolical".

The Manchester United midfielder was sent off with a straight red by referee Chris Kavanagh in the 42nd minute of their 3-0 defeat to Spurs on Sunday. Fernandes attempted to slide in and win the ball from James Maddison but ended up slipping and making contact with the Spurs player's shin.

The red card decision sparked debate, with many questioning if such an offence warranted a sending off and why VAR did not overturn Kavanagh's initial call. On The Rest Is Football podcast, Gary Lineker brought up the incident with Shearer, inquiring about the implications for VAR and the Premier League's view on the matter.

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A clearly incensed Shearer replied: "I would imagine so. Well they should be, because it was a diabolical decision. Seriously, I get it that the referee might have had a really poor view of it and couldn't see it, but then for the assistant referee to [not] tell him he's made an absolute howler and that Bruno deserved a red card.

"And then for the two in the VAR room, to look at it... what is going through their heads? I can't work it out, honestly! It's like how the hell can you get that wrong?" Lineker then noted the high threshold for intervention this season and mentioned officials are tending to support the on-field referee's call, reports the Mirror.

Lineker has also proposed an alternative to the current VAR system, suggesting a challenge-based appeals process where teams can contest a limited number of decisions per