Overview

• Howard Webb said the VAR call to disallow Josh King’s opener for Fulham at Chelsea was wrong and that established guidance was not followed.
• VAR Michael Salisbury, who sent referee Rob Jones to the monitor over Rodrigo Muniz’s contact with Trevoh Chalobah, was removed from his next assignment, and Webb apologised to Fulham.
• Webb explained the misjudgement came from focusing on contact without the full context of Muniz’s natural movement while in possession.
• He separately defended the ruling that disallowed Eberechi Eze’s free-kick for Crystal Palace, citing Marc Guéhi’s movement into the wall as an offence with clear impact.
• The weekend’s mixed outcomes — including Manchester United’s early penalty overturned and a late VAR-awarded spot-kick — kept attention on intervention thresholds and the ongoing crackdown on non-footballing grappling.