England were fortunate that Ghana were not awarded a penalty during their goalless World Cup draw, according to former Premier League official Darren Cann. The ex-referee believes the Three Lions were lucky that VAR did not intervene following a challenge from Ezri Konsa on Prince Kwabena Adu in the area.
Konsa challenge sparks debate
Thomas Tuchel's side were unable to breach Ghana's defence as they struggled to break down a determined backline in Boston. England saw few chances over 90 minutes, and many feared the worst in the 79th minute when Konsa's challenge went in. VAR chose not to intervene after match official Said Martinez did not point to the spot. Cann was surprised that the tournament's eighth penalty was not awarded.
BBC presenter Gabby Logan admitted the studio had been surprised at the lack of an on-field review. Cann agreed: "I agree, we had our hearts in our mouths when we saw Ezri Konsa make that challenge. First and foremost, as an England fan, I'm absolutely delighted that it wasn't given, but I have to be honest, for me, this should have been referred to the referee. Konsa makes no contact with the ball, he brings down his opponent."
VAR protocol under scrutiny
"You can see it perfectly from this angle, he's airborne, he's out of control, he makes contact with the attacker, and no contact with the ball. For me, this is a penalty kick. We've had seven penalties in this World Cup so far. I'm very glad that wasn't an eighth," Cann added. When asked by Joe Hart if a penalty would have been overturned, Cann said: "I think that's the limit for the VAR. In this tournament, most of the time, they've gone with the on-field decision. We had one last night with the Argentina game where it was overturned but the general thrust of the tournament is they will stick with the on-field decision unless it's clearly, clearly wrong."
Tuchel praises Ghana's defensive effort
England boss Tuchel was full of praise for the opposition after the frustrating result. "Credit to them. I rarely saw a physical performance like that from a team," he said. "They defended with 10 players in a deep, deep block, so made it difficult for us because they were very disciplined and very physical on every position so it took us a while to break this block down, to find this rhythm. Everything was our responsibility to find rhythm. At the same time you need to be careful not to concede counter-attacks."
"We were pushing, pushing, pushing. We had a big chance with Harry [Kane] that he will never miss in this tournament again, so it is what it is. It is difficult to find a way through when someone plays a 4-5-1 and completely deep and is committed to it and they celebrated a 0-0 like a win, so you could see the different approaches which is fair enough and credit to them. You cannot lose your head about it. It took us a while to find our rhythm in the second half. The substitutes helped and the fatigue set in and then we created more and more the longer the game went but we couldn't score."
