Has there ever been a better advert for the video assistant referee?
Newcastle’s 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win at Aston Villa was full of controversy with the video assistant referee (VAR) once again the big talking point – even though it wasn’t even in use.
For this season and the previous FA Cup campaign, it has not been used until the fifth round, with many fans looking forward to a return to football without interruptions from technology.
But referee Chris Kavanagh will have been wishing he had VAR to fall back on at Villa Park after an offside opener for the hosts, a blatant penalty for the visitors not awarded, plus at least three other controversial decisions that could have affected the outcome.
Ultimately, Newcastle – who were on the wrong end of the majority of the calls – progressed into the last 16, but manager Eddie Howe couldn’t hide his disappointment with the officials.
Tammy Abraham’s opener for Villa was offside, Lucas Digne’s second-half handball should have been given as a penalty rather than a free-kick outside the box, while the French full-back was also fortunate to escape a red card for a reckless challenge on Jacob Murphy.
Howe said: “I’m so torn because the game is better without VAR in terms of excitement and the spectacle for the supporters and us when we’re living a moment live.
“But it does give accurate results. It does make the game more precise in terms of decision-making. You have to respect those moments. They’re worth their weight in gold.
“When VAR is there, there is a tendency to think, ‘oh well I won’t give that because VAR is there to check it’. Then your decision-making isn’t as sharp as it would normally have to be. Maybe there is a difference there.
“I’m always torn on VAR because I love the raw emotion when a goal goes in and you don’t see a flag or hear a whistle and you know the goal is going to stand and nobody can take it away from you. But, on the other side of that, I was wishing there was VAR for the goal they scored against us – and probably throughout the entire game.”
Villa, themselves, will be reflecting on a straight red card for goalkeeper Marco Bizot in first-half added time when they were leading 1-0, and could argue Dan Burn was offside for the visitors’ equaliser through Sandro Tonali.
Boss Unai Emery, added: “Today it makes sense understanding that VAR is necessary. It’s necessary to help the referees.”
After a season so far, which has seen VAR the talking point on a weekly basis, has a weekend without it shown the potential problems?
Ex-England striker Alan Shearer told BBC Match of the Day: “For five or six months, they have been relying on VAR and they come into this situation and it all changes.
“In their defence, which is hard for me, they have VAR for five to six months, then come into a huge game without it, so it is difficult for them.
“I would like the officials to do their job properly. It is not too much to ask, is it.
“If you ever needed any evidence of the damage that VAR has done to referees, I think today is a great example of that. These guys look petrified to make a decision today because they didn’t have a comfort blanket.”