The Premier League have issued a statement explaining why Beto’s goal for Everton against Manchester United was awarded, following a VAR check that took over three minutes to confirm the strike.

Beto grabbed his fifth goal in four matches after the visitors to Goodison Park struggled to clear their lines, he eventually latched onto a loose ball to fire past Andre Onana into the roof of the net from close range.

There were several questions of offside in the build-up to the goal, whether Beto was initially onside, if another Everton player had touched the ball following Abdoulaye Doucoure’s header and whether Beto was onside from that moment also.

But Matthijs De Ligt appeared to be standing behind the Guinea-Bissau international and Andy Madley eventually pointed to the spot after VAR Matt Donohui cleared the hosts of any infringement.

The Match Centre’s statement, explaining VAR’s decision, read: “The referee’s call of goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – as there was no offside offence committed by either Lindstrom or Beto.”

With the goal, which sent Goodison into raptures, Beto became the first Everton player to score in four consecutive league games since Richarlison in March 2021.

Doucoure then turned from provider to goalscorer in the 32nd minute after United’s backline was picked apart by a through ball from Jesper Lindstrom to Beto.

Jack Harrison had his initial effort saved before Doucoure beat Harry Maguire to a looping ball, doubling Everton’s lead as David Moyes wheeled away down the touchline in celebration.

A two-goal lead was the least that Everton deserved in a first half that saw more misery compounded on United and Ruben Amorim, with his side struggling to deal with the hosts’ intensity.

Aside from January signing Patrick Dorgu, who was a consistent threat from left wing-back, it was an abject opening 45 minutes and defeat would leave United four points behind Everton in the table.

Amorim surprisingly left Alejandro Garnacho out of the starting line-up again, opting for two strikers in Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, with captain Bruno Fernandes behind them.

However, the experiment is yet to yield any fruitful results and they were masterfully handled by Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski in the Everton defence.