Another crazy weekend in the Premier League for VAR
Ever since the Luis Diaz goal was disallowed for Liverpool in September there has been a lack of trust surrounding VAR. The amount of time they take to make a decision is ridiculous and this is one of the reasons why matches are going over 100 minutes. When you watched the FIFA World Cup last year or this years Champions League you would rarely notice that VAR is in use due to a quicker system. It’s sad that the entertainment in the Premier League is now VAR and not the match itself. As a fan of the Premier League the quality of matches is not the same due to stop start nature of decisions.
Last weekend’s controversy started in the three o clock games on Saturday as Wolves conceded a penalty to Sheffield United. Referee Rob Jones awarded Sheffield United a penalty in the 100th minute after Fabio Silva fouled George Baldock. This was very controversial as there was very little contact from Silva. It was a very soft penalty and is a terrible way to lose a football match.
Lewis Dunk thought he scored an equaliser for Brighton at Goodison Park against Everton. It was a fantastic finish for a defender. Dunk’s goal was disallowed but it was very close in whether it was onside or not. This was a fantastic goal and it’s disappointing for the fan when great goals are not allowed.
If you think these decisions were bad it was even worse between Newcastle and Arsenal at St James Park. Kai Havertz received a yellow card for a lunging tackle on Sean Longstaff. It was a very dangerous lunge and Havertz should have been sent off. It could have been 10 each as Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimareas was extremely lucky not to get sent off for violent conduct. The most controversial moment of the match was when Anthony Gordan scored to put Newcastle one nil up. In the replay possibly the ball could have went over the line, a foul on Arsenal defender Gabriel or a Newcastle player maybe offside. VAR looked at the three decisions and they awarded the goal due to angles been inconclusive.
To be honest I was surprised that this goal for Newcastle was awarded. Mikel Arteta was very annoyed in his press conference after the game but you would have to agree with him as there is too much at stake to make huge mistakes. Thankfully there wasn’t too many VAR calls in the two Premier League games on Sunday. Darwin Nunez missed a sitter and the lines would have been out again if he scored.
Monday evening was the clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Spurs went one nil up early on and thought they went two nil up only for the goal to be disallowed by VAR. Chelsea scored three goals in the first half but yet again were all disallowed by VAR. In the build up to one of Chelsea’s goals Cristian Romero made a crazy tackle on Enzo Fernandez. The penalty was awarded and Spurs were down to 10 men. 12 minutes were added on at the end of the first half due to the time taken to look at decisions.
The madness of this game continued in the second half as Spurs were down to nine men after Destiny Odogie was sent off. In fairness Spurs showed a lot of spirit and thought they made it 2-2 in added time but was disallowed. Chelsea won 4-1 but this game will be remembered for five goals disallowed.
The only positive for VAR from last weekend was they recommended referee John Brooks to go to the monitor and review Manchester United’s goal at Craven Cottage. After looking at Scott McTominay’s goal it was correctly disallowed for Harry Maguire been in an offside position.