Bukayo Saka refused to be drawn into the VAR controversy following England’s mediocre Euro 2024 qualifying win over Malta.
The Arsenal winger saw club manager Mikel Arteta charged by the Football Association for criticizing the referee and VAR during the recent 1-0 Premier League loss to Newcastle.

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Arteta said it was “embarrassing” and “disgrace” when Anthony Gordon’s goal remained intact after a lengthy check.

At Wembley on Friday night, England barely defeated Malta 2-0, but captain Harry Kane was sent off for simulation after it seemed like he made contact with goalkeeper Henry Bonello.

Saka entered the game during the half and helped Kane double England’s lead. However, VAR again intervened to rule that Kane was offside, preventing Declan Rice of Arsenal from scoring.

“To be honest, let’s not comment on VAR tonight,” Saka replied when asked about the tight decisions.

“I think let’s focus on winning, getting the three points and being positive about that.”

England took an early lead through Enrico Pepe’s own goal, but then struggled, with no shots on target until early in the second half and Kane receiving a yellow card for allegedly touching the ground easily.

When asked if he ever knew Kane dived, Saka added: “No, no. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t say it now! He is not a diver.

“I think it was a clear penalty from what I saw. I think even VAR would have checked and overturned it, but I don’t know what they saw.”

While victory over minnows Malta may have been completely unconvincing, it means Gareth Southgate’s side are almost certain to be top seeds at Euro 2024.

“(It’s) very important,” Saka said.

“When he came to this camp, Gareth made that clear and it was clear that it was important for us.

“So obviously the thinking going into these two games was that we made sure we were in and we were ready to win, so we won today – clearly is that we don’t want to lose to North Macedonia, that thinking (is ) to go there and win again. So that’s what we focus on.

“I think this was a game where we didn’t really get off to the best of starts, obviously we tried to pace ourselves but we also have to give credit to Malta, they played quite well.

“But in the end, we won 2-0, got three points so now we have to move on.”