Steven Gerrard: VAR not to blame for Aston Villa FA Cup exit

Villa went down 1-0 at Old Trafford, with the big talking point the decision to disallow Danny Ings’ 51st minute equaliser.

After a check which lasted nearly four minutes the goal was eventually chalked off after Jacob Ramsey was judged to have interfered with Edinson Cavani while in an offside position.

Villa dominated large parts of the game but were unable to find a way back after Scott McTominay’s eighth minute opener.

And Gerrard chose to focus on that rather than the officials.

He said: “The decision has gone against us which is frustrating but it is not the reason we have lost the game.

“It could have gone our way, of course. We created enough in general play to score two or three goals and have conceded a really sloppy one from set plays, which is disappointing.

“We need to focus on other things. Not just VAR. It was nearly enough. There is a gap from nearly to good enough.

“We need to close that gap. There is no much wrong. The performance was good enough. We dominated at a really tough place. But we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves.”

Gerrard did admit bemusement at the length of time it took referee Michael Oliver and video assistant Darren England to reach their decision, with the initial check having focused on whether Ings was offside.

Gerrard said: “I don’t think anyone (knew what was happening in the stadium in all honesty. But for me, now I have learned the reasons why I don’t think it was that complex to take three-and-a-half minutes to straighten it out.”