England fans blast VAR as Iran get penalty but ‘WWE move’ on Maguire ignored
England fans are fuming after Iran were awarded a controversial late penalty after an identical incident at the other end was waved away in the opening minutes.
The Three Lions kicked off their World Cup campaign in style with a 6-2 win in Doha, but the feel-good vibe was marred a little by Iran's atmosphere-killing spot-kick.
It was given following a (tedious) VAR check in the 10th minute of stoppage time when John Stones was adjudged to have tugged the shirt of Iran forward Mehdi Taremi, and supporters were up in arms given that nothing was awarded in the first half when both Stones and Harry Maguire were wrestled to the ground in the box.
READ MORE: England fans slam 'fix' after being denied 'blatant double penalty' against Iran
"Absolutely bonkers decisions. England had a stonewall pen in first half but wasn't given, then Iran get a soft shirt pull and that gets given. Rubbish," one fan tweeted while a second wrote: "Joke decision by VAR to award Iran a penalty after England weren’t given one in the first half for the foul on Maguire."
A couple of ex-England footballers also chimed in, with Michael Owen describing the challenge on Maguire as a "rugby tackle" on Twitter, and Rio Ferdinand likening the incident to something out of WWE during BBC's post-match coverage.
Sum VAR's performance today up for us in one word in the comments section below.
Injustice aside, it was a mightily good day at the office for Southgate's men, with Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish all grabbing goals to send England roaring into Friday's clash with the USA.
Given contentious refereeing decisions have a habit of plaguing England at major tournaments, it's probably not the worst thing in the world to have gotten one out of the way in a 6-2 drubbing, is it?
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