VAR discourse on Dutch ‘goal’ dominates Leipzig discussion - Ronald Koeman: ‘You need five minutes to check it because it is so difficult? I don’t understand this. He is not disturbing the goalkeeper.’

Macdara Ferris reports from the RB Arena 

It was a game in Leipzig we hoped would be lit up by Kylian Mbappe but ended up with a VAR ruling being the dominant discussion point after the first goalless game of Euro 2024 with the points shared between the Netherlands and France.

We never got to see Mbappe’s mask out on the pitch and ended up looking way too much at referee Anthony Taylor on the big screen as we waited on a VAR ruling.

The impressive Xavi Simons found the back of the French net in the 69th minute but the flag immediately went up with referee Anthony Talylor ruling the goal out due to Denzel Dumfries lurking around in the six yard box adjacent to Les Bleus  goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

There was then a lengthy VAR review and while the managers had divergent views on the decision, they both agreed the decision took too long. When people hear it was English VAR official Stuart Atwell in charge, maybe the reason becomes clearer.

Speaking in the post-match press conference Dutch boss Ronald Koeman said: “The position of Dumphris is offside, that is true, but he isn’t disturbing the goalkeeper and so it is a legal goal.

“You need five minutes to check it because it is so difficult? I don’t understand this. He is not disturbing the goalkeeper.”

With Maignan diving towards Dumfries, Law 11 on offside calls it differently to Koeman:  ‘a player moving from, or standing in, an offside position is in the way of an opponent and interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball this is an offside offence if it impacts on the ability of the opponent to play or challenge for the ball’.

Following Koeman, Didier Deschamps later said: “I was taken aback it took so long. When I saw it on the big screen, it was a no brainer. There was a player who was impending the dive. I personally think the goal should have stood but it is a fair result and I can accept this.”

The Dutch came into the game with seven losses from the last eight matches against France. Deschamps side had the better of the chances in this match and so the orange clad fans packed into the stadium were probably happier to get a point. Their last win over France was a 2-0 Nations League victory in November 2018.

The draw in Leipzig should mean both teams progress to the last 16.

“It is a little bit of a disappointment but there were times when we weren’t up to scratch,” said Koeman with an honest assessment after. “We lost the ball where we shouldn’t have. France had better chances than we did but not that many more. 

“We have experience of playing against France. Previously they killed us in transition when they won the ball as they are so fast. We chose a different way of playing and when to wait and when to press.”

The big difference for the Dutch this time around was of course that they weren’t facing a French team with Mbappe. He had scored four goals in the two qualifiers against Koeman’s side but his broken nose ruled him out on this occasion.

“It was different for us and for France as well because we are talking about one of the best players in Europe and the world (missing the match).”

Deschamps spoke about his decision to leave his skipper on the bench. “If it was a decisive game, I would have thought twice about him playing. I thought the wiser decision was to keep him on the bench.

“(The Netherlands) were a little bit more cautious than I thought they would be. We had five or six goalscoring opportunities but we couldn’t find the back of the net and so we couldn’t walk away with three points. 

“They had two chances in a high intensity game. We had shots that were off target. I would be worried if there weren’t any chances. The only regret I have was the fact that we didn’t score.”

Next up for France they face Poland while the Dutch will play Austria next week in Berlin.

Well that was a very enjoyable scoreless stalemate to watch.

My match report from Leipzig #EURo2024

EURO 2024 Report: Netherlands 0 - 0 France - https://t.co/6v7VdMfsmnhttps://t.co/VR3TQnWinW

— Macdara Ferris (@macdarabueller) June 21, 2024