Aston Villa controversially denied equaliser against Brentford by VAR despite lack of conclusive evidence
Aston Villa were controversially denied an equaliser by VAR in the 1-0 defeat to Brentford; Tammy Abraham scored but VAR ruled the ball had gone out of play 19 seconds beforehand; referee claimed it was "factually out of play" but no conclusive evidence shown
Sunday 1 February 2026 18:39, UK
Tammy Abraham's goal for Aston Villa was disallowed by VAR after the ball was deemed to have gone out of play in the build-up - but was there conclusive evidence?
Abraham thought he had marked his Villa return with the equaliser against Brentford in a game that Unai Emery's side went on to lose 1-0.
But a lengthy VAR followed, eventually determining Leon Bailey had carried the ball out of play 19 seconds before the goal was scored.
Referee Tim Robinson said the ball was "factually out of play" but was there conclusive footage to confirm it had crossed the line completely?
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"I think it is not fair," Emery said after the game. "The referee is not watching it.
"Maybe there are a lot of actions and circumstances that can change a goal. I accept it completely. For me it is not fair, but I accept it."
Jamie Carragher the evidence shown on air was conclusive and proved the ball had gone out of play. "It goes out of play, there is no doubt about that," he said on Super Sunday.
But former Villa man Ashley Young disagreed, claiming the benefit of the doubt should have gone to the attacking side given the lack of clear evidence.
He added: "I think you can say it goes out but categorically are they saying they can see that? No, they can't.
"It should go in favour of the forward."
Were Villa denied a goal by an optical illusion?
Speaking in the 2023/24 season, when Newcastle's Anthony Gordon had a goal given against Arsenal after a similar incident, Gary Neville dissected how a ball can appear to be out but actually remain in play.
Positioning it near the touchline, Neville demonstrated how one angle can show the ball touching the line and another, which would be used by VAR, could appear to show it out of play.
"That ball is in. The edge of the ball is touching the edge of the white line.
"When you see that from here, you think it is not a debate. When you cut to the different angles that the VAR had to look at [it changes].
"We are not trying to say the ball is in or the ball is out, we are trying to say VAR cannot make a decision to overturn the on-field decision.
"There is ambiguity; it is an optical illusion."
