The Premier League has issued an official statement explaining why Aston Villa’s first-half goal against Bournemouth was disallowed.

John McGinn had the ball in the net after Ollie Watkins saved it near the byline, but after a lengthy VAR delay it was ruled the ball had just crossed the line and was written off.

The decision sparked much debate and many whipped out their magnifying glass to check whether the ball was fully over the line, sparking outrage at Villa Park as McGinn was urged to cancel his celebrations.

The Premier League match center said: “The referee’s goal call for Aston Villa was reviewed by VAR. Because there was factual evidence that the ball was not in play leading up to the goal, the VAR recommended that the goal was disallowed.”

Speaking on the BBC’s Final Score, Arsenal icon Martin Keown was among many who were baffled by the decision to cancel McGinn’s assignment.

“We need perimeter technology, not just goal-line technology,” Keown said. “We did it in the end, but that’s something to look at.

“To me it looks like the ball is out. There was a shot that showed him more clearly than the still we saw, so I hope they use the right image.”

McGinn was in top form and legitimately scored the final goal in Villa’s 2-0 Champions League win over Bologna last time out.

On that occasion he scored the opener before Jhon Duran secured all three points against the Serie A side, but the Colombian striker was back in his familiar position on the bench for the visit to Bournemouth.

Watkins was back in the starting XI after a rare break in Europe, with Diego Carlos, Ian Maatsen and Leon Bailey all replaced by Matty Cash, Lucas Digne and Jacob Ramsey in the Premier League.

The 3pm kick-off in England’s top flight had plenty of incidents for the players at Stockley Park to sort through, while Brentford also had a long wait to find out whether their second goal would count.

Yoane Wissa overcame a couple of tackles after being sent on goal before Ipswich’s Harry Clark directed the ball into the net, although there were fears when a VAR offside check was called for Wissa.

The match center explained: “The referee’s goal call was checked and confirmed by VAR as Wissa was in an offside position.”