Two Goals Disallowed in a Minute: Artis Coach Slams VAR After Clash with Plzeň

In a Czech league match between Artis and Plzeň, the video assistant referee (VAR) chalked off two goals for the home side within roughly a minute of each other. Brno coach Martin Nadvorník called the whole episode bizarre and made no attempt to hide his frustration after the final whistle.

In the 37th minute, with the score at 0:1, Emmanuel Fulli found the net from a free-kick delivery, but VAR flagged a marginal offside and the goal was ruled out. Roughly 60 seconds later, Dominik Prajsler struck a spectacular volley — only for that goal to be sent to review as well. Referee Matěj Kubeček was advised to take another look at a challenge between home player Alexis Alegue and Merhas Doski. After watching the replay, the referee judged Alegue guilty of a foul and disallowed the goal.

Coach and Players React

"The referee was right there, missed the challenge, and we'd scored a great goal. I understand the emotions that hit the team afterwards. We score — it's ruled out for offside. A few seconds later, another one gets chalked off too," said Nadvorník, throwing up his hands.

Prajsler, who scored the second disallowed goal, admitted he couldn't follow the officials' logic. "I'm not surprised. The goal was disallowed because of a challenge in our own half that the referee was right there for and missed. I don't understand why you'd go looking for something afterwards. If I see something happen on the pitch straight away, I let it go. That challenge lasted a few seconds — play could have been stopped right then," Prajsler said. He added that VAR had already cost him a goal recently in a match in Ostrava, where officials also overturned a penalty in Artis's favour after a VAR review.

Expert's Take

Zdeněk Folprecht, a guest on the Oneplay Sport studio show, acknowledged the Brno players had every right to be angry but felt the referees ultimately got the call right. "I get it, I'd be annoyed too. But there really was a foul there — Alegue clearly clipped Doski. If the referee had blown for the foul straight away, there wouldn't have been all this emotion. On the other hand, that's exactly what VAR is for — to correct the referee's mistakes," he explained.

The two contentious incidents rattled Artis so badly that they conceded twice before the end of the first half, and largely stopped competing for the rest of the match. "It knocked us completely off balance. We dropped our heads, and our opponents punished us with their class. Those five minutes cost us the value of our own performance. You have to stay focused for the whole match — we can't afford collapses like that," Nadvorník lamented.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz