Opta clarified their decision to award Maguire the assist by stating: “It bounced on the head of Maguire before reaching Casemiro. So Maguire was the last player of United to touch the ball before reaching Casemiro and that is why we credit the assist to him.”
Meanwhile, the Premier League confirmed why the Brazilian’s dismissal could not be checked by VAR, as yellow cards are not part of their jurisdiction.
“The referee issued a second yellow card to Casemiro for a holding offence that stopped a promising attack,” they stated.
“There was no VAR involvement in the second yellow card as per VAR protocol.”
