Michael Stewart repeats two-word phrase to highlight VAR 'mistake' as pundit baffled by Hearts incident

Pundit Michael Stewart is shocked that Laurent Mendy’s goal for Hearts against Kilmarnock was ruled out by VAR for a ‘factual overturn’.

In a Premiership fixture at Rugby Park, the Hearts midfielder thought he’d helped to open the scoring when his shot was deflected over the line by Killie defender Cathal McCarthy. Referee Duncan Nicolson saw nothing wrong with the strike - but VAR Matthew MacDermid instructed him to disallow the goal as the ball appeared to strike the arm of Mendy as he brought it down to shoot.

In normal circumstances, this would be an open and shut case - but due to McCarthy heading the ball in, the validity of the goal then depended on whether Mendy’s original shot was on target or not. Had the Frenchman’s strike been going wide, then McCarthy would’ve scored an own goal, therefore the goal would’ve stood - as Mendy himself wouldn’t be scoring from the result of his handball. However, in overturning the goal, MacDermid needed to be 100% sure the ball was going in, something Stewart can’t get his head around. The Jambos eventually drew 1-1 in Ayrshire as they dropped points for the third time this season.

Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken described the decision as ‘strange’ after the match. Stewart sympathises with the Belgian, as he believes there’s not enough evidence for a ‘factual overturn’. Speaking on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club, he said: “It's a factual overturn. Now, for this to be a handball, it can only count if that shot is on target, which they don't factually know. And the more you look at it, in fact, it looks the polar opposite. It looks like it is factually off target. So it cannot be a factual overturn!”

A similar incident recently occurred south of the border in an English Premier League match between Manchester United and Ipswich Town. United defender Harry Maguire handled the ball before his strike cannoned off Ipswich defender Jacob Greaves into the net. As the ball was deemed to be going off target, the Red Devils were awarded the goal. Stewart made reference to this incident in his further analysis of the Rugby Park ‘mistake’.

He continued: “The last camera angle shows he’s putting that away from goal. In which case, as we've seen in incidents elsewhere, the strike is not on target, it's an own goal. So an own goal means that despite the handball - whether you like it or not - the law would dictate that it's a goal. For it to be disallowed for a factual overturn is a mistake.

Former Rangers defender and pundit Alan Hutton added: “I’m with Michael. To me, it looks like he's (Mendy) hooking it wide and McCarthy then puts it in the back of the net. I mean, we've seen enough examples of this over games already this season, and in different leagues as well. I just felt it should have been a goal.”

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