‘Do me a favour’ – Controversial Championship goal sparks furious VAR rant

Adrian Durham slammed the suggestion that VAR should be introduced in the EFL after a controversial West Brom goal.

The Baggies opened the scoring against Norwich City on Saturday with a goal that went in via an ‘obvious’ handball.

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Aune Heggebo bundled the ball over the line to put his side 1-0 up in the 75th minute of the game following a whipped cross from ex-Chelsea youngster Jimmy-Jay Morgan.

But replays showed that the Norwegian striker managed to score thanks to the cross coming off his arm in the box.

Norwich’s defenders appealed for the goal to be ruled out, with referee Tim Robinson waving them away and Heggebo sprinting off to the corner to celebrate his first of the campaign.

During talkSPORT’s live commentary at Carrow Road, Dean Ashton explained: “It looked a handball, but his arms are close to his body…

“You can usually sense from players’ reactions what they’ve seen and, in particular, Jose Cordoba, as soon as the ball went in, he was remonstrating with the referee. He felt it was handball and Ben Chrisene was doing the same.

“We’ve seen a replay and it absolutely is a handball. It’s quite incredible actually, it’s so obvious. It’s as clear as you like from Heggebo, he almost uses two hands to poke it in.

“No wonder Norwich are frustrated.”

And following the incident, talkSPORT commentator Mike Sewell suggested that VAR could be of use in the Championship to prevent moments such as the one involving Heggebo again.

Adrian Durham’s VAR rant

But just the mere mention of VAR being introduced to the EFL was something that left presenter Adrian Durham furious.

In reaction to Sewell’s comments, Durham said: “Oh, do shut up.

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“Philippe Clement [Norwich manager] called for VAR last season…when things are going wrong.

“They’ve had all this time. How long have they had? 70-odd minutes to score and they haven’t.

“So they’ve had a bit of bad luck? It doesn’t mean you need to bring in VAR, literally no players and fans want VAR in the Championship.

“Do me a favour. Ridiculous. What is he talking about?”

How did Norwich vs West Brom finish?

Heggebo’s goal with 15 minutes to play was a controversial one, but Durham wasn’t too bothered about the missed handball.

Norwich would have been though, as just before the 90-minute mark, they went on to concede again, this time to Morgan.

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The Canaries did get a late goal back via Mathias Kvistgaarden, but it wasn’t enough and they were beaten on Saturday.

Manager Clement will not be happy with the manner in which his side lost, having had 20 shots and an xG of almost three goals.

West Brom scored two of their eight shots on goal, with their goalkeeper, Max O’Leary, making seven saves in total.