'Maybe subconsciously' - Wolves boss makes bold VAR point after controversial Man City winner

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil suggested officials subconsciously favour teams like Manchester City after the Blues were awarded a late winner at Molineux.

City secured three points when John Stones powered in a header deep into injury time, but the goal was initially ruled out for offside as Bernardo Silva was judged to have blocked goalkeeper Jose Sa.

However, a VAR review overturned the decision as Bernardo clearly moved out of the way before Stones made contact. O'Neil was philosophical about the decision and didn't criticise the officials - but he did ask if they subconsciously favour bigger teams when making snap calls.

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After suggesting that 'maybe subconsciously' it played a factor, he asked: "Without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Man City than Wolves?"

He later clarified: "I can categorically tell you they [the officials] definitely don't mean to, they're 100 per cent honest and doing the best they can. But from a human point of view, it's tough.

"I feel different playing Man City than someone in the Carabao Cup first round. I'm sure they feel the same. They're human. It just feels there could be [a subconscious bias].

"If I had to upset someone and there was a little guy and a big guy, I'm upsetting the little guy. There's something in there. They're definitely not doing it on purpose, they're 100% honest, but maybe there's something that's edging it when it's tight."

O'Neil also compared the decision to one that went against Wolves last season when a late winner against West Ham was disallowed and Wolves were told their player was in 'close proximity' to the goalkeeper and therefore impeding his view.

But his frustrations ended at the lack of consistency, rather than the decision going in City's favour. The Premier League match centre posted on Twitter that it was ruled that 'the VAR deemed Bernardo Silva wasn’t in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper.'