"Football's interminable video assistant refereeing debate has its latest chapter following a bizarre evening, and refereeing performance, at Villa Park. With the FA Cup not allowing the video protocol until the fifth round, here was an occasion to make the abolitionists think twice. Is elite football already too far gone to referee without a bank of screens in a faraway business park? Or was Chris Kavanagh, the referee, and his assistants, just having a nightmare day at the office?"
"Eventually, they prevailed over an Aston Villa team who lost discipline, and should have been down to ten men earlier than they eventually were. Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle: FA Cup fourth round live Tammy Abraham's opener for Aston Villa, his first since 2019, found Newcastle's defence looking half-asleep when Douglas Luiz scooped a free-kick through. But the striker was clearly offside. Perhaps both defenders and officials have become too reliant on the tech. No semi-automaton here; the goal stood."
Newcastle recovered from Tammy Abraham's offside opener to win 3-1, with Sandro Tonali scoring twice and Nick Woltemade adding the clincher to reach the FA Cup fifth round. The FA Cup's VAR protocol omission before the fifth round meant several contentious incidents were not reviewed. Match officials allowed possible penalty-box challenges and a dangerous tackle by Lucas Digne to stand as a yellow despite appearing to merit harsher sanction. Villa lost discipline and should have been reduced to ten men earlier, and goalkeeper Marco Bizot received a clear red card for a last-man foul forty-five yards from goal. The events intensified debate over reliance on VAR.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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