Wolves’ hard work against Manchester City stood for nothing as John Stones scored a late winner at Molineux.
The Old Gold were seconds away from sealing their second point of the season however, VAR had different ideas.
Goals from Jorgen Strand Larsen and Josko Gvardiol kept the scoreline level at 1-1 until the dying embers, with Wolves putting on a valiant show to keep Man City under control.
Just as a point looked as though it was earned, City scored from a corner, as Stones steered in Phil Foden’s cross to controversially give the visitors the lead.
Gary O’Neil reacts to John Stones late winner against Wolves
After triggering a vote to scrap VAR last season, O’Neil’s side learned the repercussions of their movement falling through against Man City.
Wolves lost the vote by 19-1, seeing VAR remain in the Premier League, which would not have been appreciated by those at Molineux on Sunday afternoon.
Stones’ late winner was ruled out for offside on-field by Chris Kavanagh due to Bernardo Silva’s positioning however, Stuart Attwell on VAR called for the referee to review the passage of play, leading to Stones’ goal being awarded.
As expected, O’Neil was not happy with the decision however, maintained a surprisingly calm approach when dissecting the late drama with Sky Sports.
“I knew Bernardo Silva was close to the goalkeeper. Against West Ham we were given the reason of close proximity.
“Silva is less than a yard away and I think that same reasoning should be applied to this one, but it wasn’t. I was calm about it, unfortunately there is nothing we can do.”
O’Neil gave his reasons for not being satisfied with VAR’s decision, alluding to Max Kilman’s disallowed goal against West Ham last season, as Tawanda Chirewa’s involvement mirrored that of Silva at Molineux.
Pep Guardiola disagrees with O’Neil verdict on Stones goal
Kilman’s goal did not stand on that day due to Chirewa’s involvement however, consistency was not shown at Molineux as Stones’ goal stood.
Despite O’Neil’s valid argument, Pep Guardiola was inclined to disagree with the Wolves manager, sharing his opinion on his team’s late winner.
“Bernardo [Silva] isn’t disturbing the position. It was difficult in the first moment.
“Today in modern football they starve the keeper. In the moment what happened Sa had the perfect vision. The taker from Foden and the header were magnificent.
“With 11 players in the penalty spot literally it is so difficult. The way we have done for many years, the teams have decided to play in that way [against us].”
Guardiola believes that Sa had ‘perfect vision’ for the goal, something that O’Neil isn’t on board with and something that the Old Gold will fume at for weeks to come as the inquest of the game continues.