In a game where VAR is not even in use it manages to take centre stage as refereeing errors dominated Newcastle United’s win over Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
The Magpies came from behind at Villa Park on Saturday evening to put their name in the hat for the fifth round draw, but their fate could have been far different.
Tammy Abraham gave the hosts an early lead, but replays showed he was clearly offside. The assistant didn’t raise their flag and there was no video assistant referee to review the goal.
Lucas Digne was fortunate to remain on the pitch after laying a strong challenge on Jacob Murphy close to halftime. His punishment was a yellow card.
Villa, though, were reduced to ten men shortly after that incident, when Marco Bizot came racing out of his goal to commit a professional foul on Murphy. No argument from anyone there, it was a clear red card.
Newcastle were denied a penalty as Lucas Digne appeared to commit a handball offence in the box ❌
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There was more controversy in the second half when Digne handled the ball in the box, but referee Chris Kavanagh inexplicably awarded a free kick.
Wayne Rooney, on punditry duty for the BBC, called it “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in football … it’s an absolute shocker”.
Fortunately for Newcastle, Sandro Tonali scored from the dead ball situation to level matters and kick off their comeback. The Italian midfielder went on to score a stunning goal before Nick Woltemade got on the scoresheet on his birthday.
“There’s no VAR – the penalty incident, I’m sure it was a penalty,” Kieran Trippier told BBC Match of the Day after the final whistle. “But this is football, you have to react to disappointments, and we did that. Villa posed a threat with ten men but that third goal was crucial.”
VAR vindicated? Newcastle win over Villa marred by refereeing errors
After watching that game, one is reminded why VAR exists in the first place. Huge mistakes like Abraham’s offside and Digne’s handball have been effectively wiped out of the game. For all the negatives that have come with it, that is a huge benefit to having video review.
One might argue, however, that top-flight match officials have become so conditioned by having the safety blanket of VAR that they are less likely to back themselves to make a decision in the moment.
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