Even when it is spot on, there are times when VAR can be especially cruel, as Jarrod Bowen discovered at Wembley.
No player can enjoy ANY goal being chalked off but when it would have been your first for England, it must be particularly painful. When Bowen glanced home a nice piece of headed work from the otherwise hapless Lewis Dunk, he celebrated with the sort of joyous pride you would expect.
Alas, replays showed the assistant referee really should have noticed the West Ham man was half a yard offside. So, Bowen, now seven caps into his international career, will have to wait for that special moment.
But it will come, as will a moment Bowen has probably thought about since being told he had not made the cut for Qatar 2022. Make no mistake, Bowen was gutted when Gareth Southgate decided his indifferent form in the first half of the 2022-23 season meant the former Hull City attacker did not deserve a place in his World Cup squad.
But his contribution to this entertaining match, complementing his fine club form this time around, should ensure Bowen makes it to Germany in the summer. Sometimes, it is hard to rank Bowen’s qualities, tough to land on his particular strength.
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Put quite simply, he is a player who makes things happen, often in an old-school manner. Inside the first few seconds, his direct run and cross was vintage winger stuff and Ivan Toney should have given it better justice.
Jarrod Bowen scored his first goal for England - only to be denied by the VAR (Getty Images)Unlike a lot of the many attacking talents at Southgate’s disposal, Bowen looks a natural on the right flank - his penchant for occasionally cutting inside on to his left foot a tactic rather than a necessity - and he also gets through his fair share of defensive work, which is a major mark when you are taking a Southgate test.
In a team performance that was actually erratic, there were actually some significant individual displays, Bowen’s being one of them. And the other two came from Toney and the super-cool Kobbie Mainoo.
But Bowen's performance should be enough to land him a spot on the plane for Euro 2024 (ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Just over a week ago, Manchester United’s 18-year-old was considered too inexperienced for senior selection, according to Southgate. Now, Mainoo should be a shoo-in for the Euros. What was mightily impressive about his work was the ability to take the ball in tight spaces and create attacking momentum from those positions.
That skill is what propelled the move that ended with Jan Vertonghen fouling Toney for the Brentford striker’s successful penalty and one of many appealing elements to Mainoo’s is his instinctive need to turn defensive work into an attacking possibility.
As for Toney, he was not sensational but got into dangerous positions - bringing one particularly smart save out of Matz Sels in the second half - and took his penalty with customary calmness and authority.
While Ollie Watkins has had a stellar club season - unlike Toney and his truncated campaign - you just get the sense the Brentford striker will have more predatory menace in a one-off tournament game.
Toney could do with a decent finale to the Premier League season but the swagger that Southgate referred to before this match should see him make the journey to Germany. And fitness permitting, Bowen will join him … and will get that goal he has dreamed of.
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