Man United handed penalty verdict vs Sunderland as Premier League explain VAR decision

The Premier League Match Centre have explained why Sunderland's penalty against Manchester United was overturned following a VAR review. In stoppage time of the first half, with United leading 2-0, Benjamin Sesko was penalised for a foul on Trai Hume.

Sesko had raised his foot near the Sunderland defender's head while attempting to clear the ball. Hume went down to prompt a swarm of appeals from the away team, with their nearby supporters also demanding a penalty.

It was unclear what decision had been given on-field, but referee Stuart Attwell - after consulting one of his linesmen - was sent over to the pitch-side monitor to review the incident. After watching multiple replays, Attwell deemed that Sesko hadn't committed a foul and play continued from a corner kick.

A post on the Premier League's Match Centre account on X read: "After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Sunderland. Referee announcement: 'After review, there is no foul by the Manchester United player. He does not make contact with the head of the attacker. As the ball is out of play when the decision was made, the final decision is corner kick'."

On Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday, former Premier League referee Mike Dean said: "The issue I have, we have referees as VARs and assistant referees as assistant VARs.

"For some reason today, we've got an assistant referee as VAR and an assistant VAR. So they don't really know what's happened. For me, there's no contact whatsoever. He shouldn't have been sent to the screen, it should have been cleared on the field."

It was a repreive for Sesko, who'd scored his first goal at Old Trafford to double United's lead in the 31st minute. The striker produced a neat first-time finish after