soccer

Was Villa Park chaos advert for VAR?

Tammy Abraham's opener

A marginal VAR offside decision caused a fair amount of controversy for Newcastle in midweek. Joe Willock had a goal disallowed at Tottenham when the semi-automated technology said his forehead was offside.

Abraham's goal was the kind of decision the video review was brought in for - the real howlers.

The Villa striker was clearly ahead of the defence when Douglas Luiz played the free-kick. With VAR, the goal would have been ruled out.

It would be easy to blame switching between systems as a defence for the assistant, Nick Greenhalgh. But with or without VAR, he would be expected to raise his flag if he's identified an offside.

Should Digne have been sent off?

Would the VAR have stepped in to show a red card to Digne for serious foul play with his late challenge on Jacob Murphy? It is far from certain from what we have seen in the Premier League.

We often hear the VAR has referenced glancing contact to uphold the decison of a yellow card. See Diogo Dalot's challenge on Jeremy Doku in the Manchester derby last month.

Digne did come in at some speed and that would have increased the chance of being sent off on review.

Yet the Frenchman did not push through on to the shin of the Newcastle player. That his foot came off quickly probably would have saved him.

It may well have been one of those where the on-field decision would have stood, whether it was yellow or red card.

Bizot's red card

Serious foul play or denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity (Dogso)?

Really, this incident could have been either. After all, Bizot brought down Murphy with a knee-high challenge - although it was not with studs leading.

When the Dutch goalkeeper fouled the Newcastle forward, the Magpies were left with three attackers up against only Luiz, although Dogso could only be applied to the player fouled.

The VAR would have taken into account the general run of the ball was not towards goal. They would also consider if Luiz would have been able to get across to prevent the shot.

You can make a case for a degree of doubt for Dogso. But much like the Digne decision it is one which would likely have stayed with the on-field decision.

Read more analysis on the officiating in Aston Villa v Newcastle here

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