Matt Maher: Wolves continue to be proven right on VAR
It rather goes without saying Wolves haven’t got too much right over the past few years.
Yet when it comes to VAR, they increasingly appear the sanest club in the room.
It was in 2024 that Wolves tabled a motion for VAR to be scrapped in the Premier League, arguing “the price we are paying for a small increase in accuracy is at odds with the spirit of our game”.
The rest of the league disagreed, voting unanimously against the proposal and instead agreeing to a six-point plan aimed at improving its use.
Nearly two years on, however, progress is difficult to spot. Just when you think VAR can’t get any more daft, it does, as evidenced by this week’s Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Perhaps disallowing Antoine Semenyo’s second goal for Manchester City against Newcastle was technically the correct call.
Erling Haaland’s foot, on closer inspection, appeared to be beyond that of Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope. You could argue, after reviewing the replay from several angles, the Manchester City striker was impeding defender Malick Thiaw as the ball passed by the pair of them and into the net.
The margins were tight enough, however, for none of those things to be considered an issue at the moment the goal was actually scored. No-one in a Newcastle shirt, whether on the pitch or in the stands, spotted any infringement. Only after more than five minutes of painstaking review, first by VAR Stuart Attwell and then on-field official Chris Kavanagh after he had been advised to consult the pitchside monitor.
