Man United Blasted By Fans After VAR Cancelled Out Franck Kessie’s Sensational Strike For AC Milan

Manchester United have been slammed by fans after VAR stepped in and ruled out Franck Kessie's stunning opener for AC Milan.

The Red Devils welcomed the Italian side to Old Trafford for the first leg of their round-of-16 Europa League clash on Thursday.

And a lively Milan showed an early threat as Rafael Leao had the ball in the back of the net, only to be ruled offside and denied the opener.

However, Kessie stepped up in the 12th minute and produced a sensational strike to beat Dean Henderson.

United defended poorly from a throw-in and the 24-year-old Ivorian midfielder managed to chest the ball down from outside of the box.

Kessie then fired a thumping shot into the far corner, only for Milan to be denied the opener by VAR intervention.

VAR ruled that the Milan player handled the ball when he was bringing the throw-in under control in a very tight call.

The VAR controversy, unsurprisingly, left many fans flocking to social media to vent their frustration at United's 'lucky' escape.

"VAR doing its madness. That was no handball. The team is all over the place," one fan said.

Someone else posted: "No handball whatsoever! VAR and United again."

A third Twitter user tweeted: "VAR! Man United [are] skating on [thin] ice."

And a fourth added: "United benefit from VAR and water is wet."

United almost stunned AC Milan before the end of the first half, but Red Devils skipper Harry Maguire shockingly hit the post from only a yard out.

United and Milan head into half-time 0-0 at Old Trafford.

Full-time result: Amad Diallo came off the bench and scored a magnificent header to fire Manchester United into the lead early in the second half.

However, Simon Kjaer pulled back a crucial equaliser in injury time to secure a 1-1 draw for AC Milan at Old Trafford.

The second-leg round-of-16 clash will be held at the San Siro on 18th March.

Topics: Football, Europa League, Manchester United, Serie A, UEFA, Premier League, England, AC Milan, Old Trafford, Italy, VAR

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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