Matt Maher: The officials had a nightmare at Aston Villa - but this was no vindication of VAR
By the time he blew the final whistle at Villa Park on Saturday night, it was hard not to feel a little sorry for Chris Kavanagh.
To say the 40-year-old referee and his assistant, Nick Greenhalgh, had endured something of a nightmare 90 minutes would be a huge understatement.
Their error-strewn performance in Villa’s FA Cup defeat to Newcastle, screened live to millions on the BBC, was the kind which will be talked about for the years, with the mistake on which they combined - awarding a free-kick despite Lucas Digne handling the ball at least a yard or two inside the box - forever consigned to the catalogue of Worst You’ve Ever Seen.
No referee, or assistant, makes mistakes on purpose but these were huge blunders, Greenhalgh having also gaffed in the first half when he failed to spot Tammy Abraham straying a yard offside before firing Villa in front.
In the hours after the match it came as no surprise to hear many commentators bemoan the absence of VAR from this round of the Cup. Wasn’t this, after all, exhibit A as to why video technology is needed to assist referees?
Which is fine, in theory, in the same way the use of VAR makes perfect sense, in theory.
In practice, as the past eight years in the Premier League have shown, things are very different.
