VAR has ensured that big teams don't always get decisions in their favour, claims Frank Lampard

Ever since the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was introduced, there have been mixed reactions from all corners, while the English Premier League, in particular, had many decisions overturned recently. For the record, Crystal Palace were denied a penalty against Manchester United on Thursday night, which might have changed the course of the game if awarded. Meanwhile, reports have indicated that the Red Devils have got the most number of VAR reviews in their favour this season, closely followed by Southampton and Brighton. 

Chelsea have been on the wrong side of a decision against Manchester United earlier this season, en-route to their 0-2 defeat, with Harry Maguire escaping a red card. But, Lampard is not too bothered about that and is focused on the FA semi-final match against similar opponents this Sunday. In spite of a few shortcomings, Lampard admitted that the introduction of the VAR has been successful enough to ensure that the decisions do not always favour big teams.

"When you look back over other days people said it would favour big teams maybe because of the pressure or fan influence. But those days are gone. VAR has come in to try and change that, and not just favouring teams but just to get the right decision,” said Frank Lampard, as reported by Evening Standard.

“But there is always a human element to VAR, still, and clearly they have to make a decision. The confusing thing about some of the recent ones, and the one on Thursday night, is that it’s a very, very clear and obvious decision that was wrong and didn’t get reviewed and changed. A few of those have happened and that is strange,” added the manager.