UEFA make official ruling on Anthony Taylor and Stuart Attwell after the Premier League referees controversially ruled out a would-be winner for the Netherlands against France

UEFA have reviewed Anthony Taylor and Stuart Atwell’s decision to controversially rule out Xavi Simons’ goal for the Netherlands against France for offside.

Despite both teams possessing considerable firepower, genuine chances proved hard to come by at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig last week. 

With the game still goalless at the hour mark, it appeared the deadlock would not be broken in the Group D clash before PSG forward struck home from the edge of the box.

The strike prompted jubilant celebrations from his teammates but they were brought back down to earth shortly after as referee Anthony Taylor was prompted by his assistant to commence a check for offside with fellow Premier League official Stuart Attwell on VAR.

Unlike many instances of VAR intervention at the tournament thus far, the check dragged on for several minutes as the Dutch supporters in attendance held their breath.

Xavi Simons thought he had broken the deadlock for his side with a strike from the edge of the box

But after checking with VAR official Stuart Attwell, Anthony Taylor ruled the strike out for offside

After a review of the ‘goal’, it was ultimately ruled out as Netherlands defender Denzel Dumfries – who was in an offside position – was judged to have impeded French goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

The decision divided opinion among players, pundits and fans alike but UEFA refereeing chief Roberto Rosetti has since insisted that it was ‘totally correct.’

‘The UEFA referee committee totally supported the decision.’ Rosetti said.

‘We think that the decision is right and we are also happy about the process.

‘There are always elements for improvement. In this situation, the element of improvement is the duration of this review. For sure the duration can be less, we can decrease the duration of the review (but) I want to tell you that it’s not easy.

‘In this situation the VAR checked two possible offsides, he had to check the possible impact of the attacker on the goalkeeper and a previous contact between two other players.

‘Then we can add that we are at the Euro, the pressure is the pressure, and of course we always support accuracy. At the end the decision is totally correct.’

The Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk expressed his frustration with the ‘English referees’ after the match

In his review of officiating in the tournament so far UEFA managing director for referees Roberto Rosetti insisted Taylor’s decision was the correct one

After his side were denied an opener the game ended 0-0 and Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk vented his frustration with the English officials.

‘We scored a goal that is a fair goal.’ The Liverpool star said on Friday.

‘He had no chance to get into that corner. But yeah, the English referee decided to disallow it.’