Birmingham manager Wayne Rooney is adamant he does not want VAR in the Sky Bet Championship despite his side being denied a clear penalty in their 3-1 defeat by Southampton.
Gavin Bazunu wiped out Oliver Burke just before half-time when the score was 2-0 but referee David Webb waved away the spot-kick shouts.
Instead, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Carlos Alcaraz and Adam Armstrong’s goals condemned Rooney to his third straight defeat as Blues boss.
“These decisions happen when you don’t have VAR,” said Rooney. “I’m not a fan of VAR and you accept referees and linesmen might make mistakes but what you can’t accept is the penalty decision.
“It is ridiculous and everyone in the stadium could see it.
“The keeper is committed and is coming at pace and is reckless. If he is coming like that then he has to win the ball but he absolutely wipes out Burkey.
“The most frustrating thing is that the fourth official told me that the referee was clear in his decision and wasn’t willing to take advice from his fourth official and assistant.
“He was clear there was minimal contact. That is a worry for me.
“I hope VAR doesn’t filter down but we would have got a penalty if VAR was here.
“I know referees will make mistakes, I can accept that but for me that was too much and a big error.”
Southampton manager Russell Martin agreed, saying: “I haven’t seen it back but at the time I thought it was a penalty.
“I feel for Wayne and if he’s frustrated with that I would be as well.
“It was a moment of madness from Gav. He hadn’t had a lot to do at that point.”
Saints opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Harwood-Bellis nodded in his first goal for the club from Adam Armstrong’s cross.
Alcaraz added a second from close range after fine work from Kamaldeen Sulemana and Stuart Armstrong.
Jay Stansfield wonderfully bent in his fourth goal of the season 52 seconds after coming off the bench but Adam Armstrong settled things with his eighth career goal against Birmingham.
Rooney added: “I thought Southampton were the better team and there are no complaints that they won the game.
“For where we are at, we could have come away from this game with something. There are positives for coming to the best team in the league at playing football but there is still a lot for us to work on.”
It was Southampton’s sixth game unbeaten and Martin said: “It has been a really nice run, especially after the run that came before that.
“That probably makes me more proud of the players and the staff for the way they came through that. It has been beautiful to see the growth in that time.
“To see them smiling together and fighting for each other, it has been brilliant to be a part of it.
“We played some beautiful stuff in the first half with so much energy and aggression, without giving them much threat.
“I’m annoyed we conceded the goal as Gavin deserved a clean sheet.
“We deserved to win and should have scored a few more goals, so there is a bit of frustration but I’m there to be relentless with the lads.
“It has been a brilliant week for us and now we have to keep going.”
Fiorentina 2-1 Milan: Gudmundsson seals win after De Gea penalty heroics
David de Gea saved two penalties for Fiorentina, setting the stage for Albert Gudmundsson to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Milan.
In a pulsating encounter that saw three missed penalties and two red cards, Fiorentina prevailed to halt Paulo Fonseca's Serie A winning run.
The hosts had the first spot-kick of the game, with Moise Kean's tame effort being kept out by Mike Maignan before the forward had a goal disallowed for offside.
Former Milan midfielder Yacine Adli did break the deadlock soon after, ricocheting a low shot in off the far post from the edge of the box, and De Gea kept them ahead at the break, superbly denying Theo Hernandez from the spot.
Kean had a second goal chalked off for offside in the second half and Milan wasted another golden opportunity from 12 yards, as De Gea got down well to keep out Tammy Abraham this time.
On the hour mark, an in-form Christian Pulisic finally pulled the visitors level with a perfect volley, but the drama was far from over as Gudmundsson drilled his low shot past Maignan to put Fiorentina back in front in the 73rd minute.
Emotions ran high in the final moments as Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was sent off, while Hernandez also received his marching orders for arguing with the referee after the final whistle had gone.
Data Debrief: De Gea's penalty redemption
For all the plaudits De Gea received while at Manchester United, one blip on his record was his struggles against penalties.
However, with his impressive showing against Milan, he became the first goalkeeper to make two penalty saves in a single Serie A match since Federico Marchetti in May 2016.
Since his debut in the top five European leagues (2009-10), the Spaniard has saved 10 of his 52 penalties in the league, including each of the last three, having also saved one against Fulham in May 2023.
Rangers 2-0 St. Johnstone: Cerny double provides Ibrox redemption
Rangers got back on track in the Scottish Premiership as Vaclav Cerny scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over St. Johnstone.
Philippe Clement's side were thrashed 4-1 by Lyon in Thursday's Europa League clash at Ibrox Stadium, where they made amends with a routine domestic victory on Sunday.
Cerny broke the deadlock 11 minutes before the interval, cutting inside and curling a sumptuous effort into the bottom-left corner of Ross Sinclair's goal.
Czech Republic winger Cerny added Rangers' second, and doubled his account, just before the hour after combining with returning midfielder Ianis Hagi before producing a right-footed finish into the far corner.
Hagi – who had not played a first-team game for over a year due to a contract dispute – was sent off with nine minutes left though, following a VAR review for a high challenge on Benjamin Kimpioka's standing ankle.
Rangers still recorded a comfortable triumph to move back within five points of the league-leading Celtic, who are clear of Aberdeen on goal difference, heading into the October international break.
Data Debrief: Defensive recovery after Lyon pain
Rangers were well off the pace in the Lyon hammering in which they shipped four goals, though the hosts rediscovered their defensive solidity here.
Clement's men have now won three matches in a row without conceding in the competition for the first time since doing so across January and February last campaign.
It came as no surprise, however, given St. Johnstone have lost each of their last seven away league games against Rangers without scoring a single goal in the process.
Kompany not concerned despite Bayern's defensive issues in Frankfurt
Vincent Kompany saw no reason for concern despite Bayern Munich conceding a late equaliser in Sunday's 3-3 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayern have now failed to win any of their last three matches in all competitions after last week's top-flight draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen and their midweek Champions League loss at Aston Villa.
Kim Min-Jae sent the visitors ahead early on, only for in-form Omar Marmoush to level before his strike partner Hugo Ekitike edged the home side into the lead.
Goals from Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise turned the game around, only for Marmoush to provide a last-gasp equaliser – yet Kompany did not appear too worried at the full-time whistle.
"This was a tough game against a team that was second in the Bundesliga [before the match]," Kompany told a press conference after the points were shared in Frankfurt.
"When I look how the team worked and ran for each other it is a positive performance.
"We are all judged by results but my job is to see how we perform against some of the top teams in Germany and continue to improve. If we continue like this we will have a lot of wins."
All three Eintracht goals came from quick counter-attacks with the Bayern defence caught off guard.
"The way we approached the game I cannot say I am not proud of the team," Kompany added.
"I know you are all going to talk about the three goals that we conceded. We always have to improve things step by step. There are things that are not perfect but I have to focus on the things we did well."
The Bavarians now have 14 points and sit top of the table on goal difference ahead of RB Leipzig, who were 1-0 winners at Heidenheim earlier on Sunday.
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