Everton thought they’d taken the lead at Villa Park midway through the first half, before VAR intervened to deny Jake O’Brien’s goal
Matty Hewitt Football Writer
17:53, 18 Jan 2026Updated 19:02, 18 Jan 2026
Jake O’Brien scored for Everton before VAR disallowed the goal for offside.(Image: )
Peter Crouch summed up Everton’s disallowed goal against Aston Villa perfectly on social media by letting fans know that even his six-year-old son disagreed with the VAR decision.
The Blues thought they’d taken the lead through Jake O’Brien’s header in the 34th minute. The defender glanced the ball into the bottom corner from close range after a delightful ball into the box from James Garner.
The assistant referee raised his flag for offside, and the officials used VAR to review the decision, siding with the on-field decision and ruling that Harrison Armstrong was in an offside position and interfered with play.
OPINION
Chris Beesley
OPINION
Chris Beesley
A post from the Premier League Match Centre said: “The referee’s call of no goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Armstrong interfered with an opponent’s ability to play the ball from an offside position.”
Everton fans were understandably aggrieved and disagreed with the incident, while Crouch let fans know what his son thought of the incident.
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He shared on X: “My 6-year-old has just told me that was never offside.”
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On punditry duty at half-time, Jamie Redknapp said: “Everton players will be furious, watching that. That’s the one, clearly attempting to play a ball.
“If we look at it again, you can see there are two angles here, he definitely [Harrison Armstong] is in the middle of the box and is he going to get it?
“[Emiliano] Buendia is definitely not going to get it. You can see Harrison Armstrong there, he jumps and doesn’t get it.
“What VAR will say it’s a legitimate attempt to head the ball [from Armstrong] but I think they’re really unlucky Everton with that one.”
Jake O’Brien heads home for Everton at Aston Villa but the goal was ruled out for offside (Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Former Everton star Ashley Young was in agreement and said: “I totally agree, I think Harrison Armstrong is obviously in the box to do a job and try and head it.
“He gets above Emi Buendia, but Guessand is getting outjumped by Jake O’Brien, whether his hands are all over him and that could be deemed a foul.”
Sky Sports presenter Mark Chapman raised the point had they given a foul for a push on Guessand, then maybe the decision may have been more understandable.
Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann told the BBC: “Harrison Armstrong jumped and challenged for the ball from an offside position.
“This is 100% an offside offence in the laws of the game and the correct decision was reached by the video assistant referee.
“Any player in an offside position who challenges for the ball is deemed to have committed an offside offence even if they don’t touch the ball.”
It didn’t matter in the end with Thierno Barry scoring in the second half to seal a superb 1-0 win.