With the FA Cup fourth round taking place this weekend, fans across England will be desperate for their teams to progress in the oldest national football competition in the world. As such, Newcastle United supporters would have been left in disbelief after Tammy Abraham scored the opener in their game against Aston Villa.
The English striker showed great instincts to get onto the end of a cleverly worked free-kick at Villa Park in the 14th minute. Upon looking at the replay, however, it became undeniably clear that Abraham was standing in an offside position when the ball was clipped in.
This was not a VAR gaffe, though, but instead a simple mistake by the officials. Indeed, as the game was part of the FA Cup fourth round, there was no VAR in use, meaning the linesman and referee could not rely on the technology to correct their mistake.
VAR Not in Use For Three Key Aston Villa vs Newcastle Incidents
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Speaking in the BBC studio at half-time, pundits Alan Shearer, Dion Dublin and Wayne Rooney all agreed that Abraham’s goal was offside, with Shearer saying it was ‘not a difficult decision’ but accepting that the officials may be finding it hard to do their job after relying on VAR every week in the Premier League.
Adding insult to injury, Lucas Digne then lunged into Jacob Murphy, catching the winger with his studs fairly high and late. Once again, with no VAR in use, Aston Villa were let off the hook. BBC commentator Danny Murphy insisted that it would have been upgraded to red had the technology been available, with Shearer and Rooney also saying it should have been a red card.
Just before the break, though, the third time was finally the charm for Newcastle as Villa once again pushed the boundaries of the law. This time, Marco Bizot raced out of his goal and brought down Murphy. Referee Chris Kavanagh felt as though the goalkeeper had denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity and so reached for his red card.
Interestingly enough, again, commentator Murphy wasn’t convinced it was the right call. But with no VAR in use, the on-pitch decision stood, leaving Villa down to 10 men just before the half-time break.
There was then another incident involving Dinge in the second half when the referee gave Newcastle a free kick for handball, but replays showed the left-back was in the box and so it should have been a penalty. Sandro Tonali actually scored from the resulting set-piece, so justice was just about served.
No VAR in Fourth Round of FA Cup
As explained by the BBC Sport, VAR and semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) have not been used in the third or fourth round of this season’s FA Cup. It will only come into place in the fifth round.
This reason relates to infrastructure and operational costs. VAR had previously only been used at Premier League grounds and at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals and final. Many teams in the lower leagues do not have the money or infrastructure to add the technology for FA Cup fixtures.
The Football Association says this decision will ensure a consistent refereeing approach for all clubs that take part in the competition. Goalline technology, however, will be available for all fixtures hosted by Premier League and Championship clubs.