The referee will be back in action this weekend in a high profile game less than two weeks since the FA Cup farce
Chris Kavanagh was dropped by the Premier League last week after his poor performance in Newcastle United’s FA Cup fourth-round win at Aston Villa.
After failing to rule out Tammy Abraham for an offside in the build-up to the striker opening the scoring for Villa, an uncomfortable night lay ahead.
After that, Lucas Digne escaped a red card for a shin-high tackle on Newcastle winger Jacob Murphy. Kavanagh awarded a free-kick – not a penalty – when Digne blocked a cross with his arm inside the box. Wayne Rooney described it as ‘one of the worst decisions he’s ever seen’.
Kavanagh was not given a game last weekend but he will be back on Sunday after being appointed ref for the Man United vs Crystal Palace.
It means Kavanagh’s punishment was only a short break and he will be back in the cauldron of Old Trafford this weekend.
Speaking about the decisions at the time United legend Alan Shearer said: “For me, they’re actually getting worse because I really don’t think that is a difficult decision at all, in fact it’s easy and at this standard, that has to be given.
“There’s no excuse for the assistant not to tell his referee that he’s got that totally wrong.”
Eddie Howe had said at the time: “I’m always torn on VAR. I said this many times because I still love the emotion, even tonight, when a goal is given and you don’t see a flag or a referee, it’s a goal, and no one’s going to take it away from you.
“That joy that you get in that moment, I still really love and VAR takes it away. But then on the other side, I was wishing there was VAR on the first goal against us, and probably throughout that game.”