Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted Manchester United used the first half VAR controversy as motivation for their 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
Solskjaer and his players were visibly seething when referee Chris Kavanagh, after consulting the VAR monitor, disallowed a strike by Edinson Cavani — with Spurs opening the scoring through Son Heung-Min soon after.
United were shell-shocked and trailed 1-0 at the break but staged a brilliant fightback in the second half, scoring through Fred, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood. It's a win that exacts revenge for United's 6-1 hammering by Tottenham earlier in the season, and also propels Solskjaer's side closer to wrapping up a second-place finish in the league.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Norwegian revealed the VAR controversy was the catalyst for the performance.
"The game has gone. Game has absolutely gone," he said on the disallowed goal.
"If that’s a clear and obvious error, it’s an obvious error he had to look at it. It was a perfectly good goal.
"We shouldn’t be conned. I have to say, if my son stays down for three minutes and he needs his 10 mates to help him up, he won’t get any food. We weren’t conned, the referee was."
On the performance after half-time and his team's character, Solskjaer added: "That kick-started us. [Before the goal] we had played like a team who had played in Europe on a Thursday night.
"Top reaction, we played some great stuff second half. We felt the injustice and we showed good character to come back. We can’t let those decisions ruin this good season for us."
