'I'm far from a Wolves fan but...' - Ex-Premier League goalkeeper wades in on Man City VAR mayhem

Foster believes Bernardo Silva committed an offence ahead of Stones’ winning goal and reckons Wolves should have claimed a point against the Premier League champions on Sunday afternoon.

Wanderers battled hard to make it to second half stoppage time level at 1-1 but Stones broke hearts all around Molineux with a powerful header from a Phil Foden corner. Referee Chris Kavanagh originally ruled out the goal as he thought the offside Bernardo Silva was in Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa’s line of vision, but the decision was overturned after a second look at the pitchside VAR monitor.

Foster, an ex-Premier League goalkeeper with 390 English top-flight appearances to his name, disagrees with VAR and reckons Bernardo did enough to interfere with Sa. The 41-year-old played 223 times for Wolves’ bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion, so there’s definitely no bias there - just honesty from the perspective of an experienced shot-stopper.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Foster wrote: “I’m far from a Wolves fan… And people will probably say I’m sticking up for the GK union… But that John Stones goal should’ve been disallowed. Bernardo Silva backs into Jose Sa which takes him out of a comfortable ‘set’ position.”

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil didn’t have a say either way as he thought it was an ambiguous call. He did make a suggestion there may have been some subconscious bias towards Manchester City, however.

“Without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves? My focus and senses are heightened when we’re facing Man City. Are the officials the same? When it’s Man City, is there something in there that influences decision-making?,” O’Neil said.