The VAR system will be introduced in the fifth round of this year’s competition, so it couldn’t be used at the Emirates when Andrew Madley awarded the Gunners a controversial penalty.
Havertz went down after minimal contact with Maguire. Before Martin Odegaard could take his spot-kick, there was a melee in the penalty area, with the United centre-back furious with the referee and with Havertz for exaggerating the contact.
Altay Bayindir ensured justice was done with a sprawling save to keep out Odegaard’s penalty before saving from Havertz in the shootout to help United book a spot in the fourth round.
Maguire said Madley would be regretting the decision when he watches it back, but said the incident also highlighted why VAR is in use, at a time when it is again becoming a controversial talking point in the game.
“It’s a tough one, really. At the time when he gave it my initial instinct was that it will be all right, VAR will overturn it,” he said. “And then it clicked in my head that VAR could not intervene. So that’s when my head went a little bit.
“He probably looks back, he knows he got it wrong. Listen, that’s why we have VAR because the big moments, we need them correct and it’s a tough gig if we don’t have help for them.”
Maguire admitted United weren't at their best in possession against Arsenal, but praised the mentality in the team to battle on with 10 men after Diogo Dalot had been sent-off. United were a man down for an hour but prevailed on penalties, with Joshua Zirkzee the hero.
"It was a game where we didn’t play too well with the ball but I think we showed great fight, great spirit, great character, especially going down to 10 men away at the Emirates," said Maguire. "[It's a] tough place to come. We know that. They’re a good team. To stay in the game and limit them to not many chances, I didn’t feel. I thought the boys put in a great shift.
"We’ve had four tough away games under this manager and I feel like in all four – Arsenal twice, City and Liverpool, we’ve competed in all of them. We got done here last time but we only got done by two set plays. Apart from that there wasn’t much in the game.
"I didn’t think there was much in the game again, even though we were 1-0 up after 60 minutes. Then the sending off and we had to hang in there.
"But I felt that the shape was good, we defended our box really well. Altay made some big saves when he needed to. I think it’s important that we stick together. But we also have to realise that we are still where we are in the league table. We’ve got big games coming up, we can’t rest because the league table to look at is embarrassing so we’ve got kick on from this."
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