Cory Burke goal erased by VAR, but Fafa saves the day with late winner

VAR giveth, VAR taketh away.

Philadelphia Union forward Cory Burke was involved in another video assistant referee decision on Wednesday night in Seattle after the Jamaica international beat Stefan Frei on a rocketed near post shot off a pass from Haris Medunjanin in the 65th minute.

After review, the referee called the goal back, ruling that Burke was offside when the ball left Medunjanin’s foot.

Burke was on the opposite end of a VAR decision last month when video review overturned the offside flag and his goal held up for the 1-0 win over New England Revolution.

Fafa Picault’s goal in stoppage time — set up by pressure from Jay Simpson that forced Frei into a bad pass — made the Burke VAR decision a moot point in the end as the Union escaped Seattle with three valuable points. Simpson subbed on for Burke in the 88th minute to make his first appearance since April 13th.

Matthew Ralph

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now. He's covered soccer at all levels for a decade in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

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