Beto VAR delay explained before major rule change that will impact Everton

Former Premier League referee Dermott Gallagher has been explaining the process behind the lengthy decision to disallow Beto’s equaliser for Everton at Southampton

Beto looks across after scoring shortly before his goal got disallowed by VAR during the match between Southampton and Everton at St Mary’s Stadium on November 2, 2024(Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside via Getty Images)

Dermott Gallagher has explained why it took so long for Beto’s Everton equaliser to be ruled out in the 1-0 defeat at Southampton on Saturday and insisted that the process will be improving soon. The Blues substitute latched onto a ball over the top from James Tarkowski to beat Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale and in real time, the assistant referee did not put his flag up.

However, after a lengthy check from Matt Donohue back at Stockley Park, the goal was disallowed for offside by VAR. Speaking on Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch programme, Gallagher, who was a referee in the Premier League from 1992-2007, said: “The officials get this right. Yeah, I thought it was a really, really tight call when you look at it.

“When I first saw it, I thought he might just be onside but when you look at it, he’s just offside. That’s where the VAR is so accurate with technology.

“When the semi-automated comes, this is where it will be cleared up much quicker but it’s quite complex with VAR. Also, it was only his (Donohue’s) second game as a VAR official and I think what he wants to do is make sure everything is right.

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“It was very, very tight and that’s why he took his time. But you’d rather take your time and get the decision right.

“That’s as accurate as it is at the moment. With semi-automated, it will become much clearer, much better and much slicker.

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“The cameras and the technologies they work with creates a much slicker process. At the moment they haven’t got it quite right, they want to have it absolutely 100% before they release it.

“We thought it would be ready for the autumn break but now it’s been delayed a little bit. We all know, if we want it to be released, we want it to be absolutely 100%.

“But it will be better, it will be slicker, we see it in the Champions League. It will be better.”