How Aston Villa v Newcastle United FA Cup tie showed 'benefits of VAR' amid controversial offside and handball decisions - and a possible red card

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Aston Villa's FA Cup fourth-round tie with Newcastle United was one packed full of controversy. The absence of VAR at Villa Park was there for all to see when the home side scored, as Tammy Abraham appeared to be in an offside position, while Eddie Howe's team were denied a clear penalty for a Lucas Digne handball inside the area. Live coverage of the FA Cup is on TNT Sports and discovery+.

'He's miles inside' - Newcastle 'absolutely raging' after controversial non-penalty handball call

Video credit: TNT Sports

Aston Villa's FA Cup fourth round clash with Newcastle United was packed full of drama, with a number of controversial decisions by officials putting scrutiny on the absence of VAR.

With VAR only used in the FA Cup from the fifth round stage, Villa went ahead with a goal scored by Tammy Abraham that would have been chalked off had it happened in the Premier League.

Later, a challenge from Lucas Digne only received a yellow card when it could have been red. And, in the second half, Digne clearly handled inside the penalty area, but Newcastle - who recovered to win the game 3-1 thanks to two goals from Sandro Tonali and a strike from Nick Woltemade - were only awarded a free-kick.

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"A game that shows the benefits of VAR," was the way TNT Sports pundit Lucy Ward summed up proceedings.

Villa went 1-0 ahead in the first half through Abraham - he looked to be in an offside position, as did a couple of other players from the home team.

Sam Matterface summed it up like this when commentating on the game for TNT Sports and discovery+: "In the Premier League, it looks like VAR would have come to Newcastle's rescue. But in the FA Cup, that goal stands."

'In the FA Cup that goal stands' - Abraham puts Villa 1-0 up despite offside appeals

Video credit: TNT Sports

Ward said: "He did look like he was offside. The Newcastle players look straight to the assistant ref, as if to say, 'where's the flag?'"

Speaking at half-time, TNT Sports pundit Les Ferdinand said he was sure the assistant referee would have spotted the offside.

"From where we were sitting, as this ball goes in, I could see that Tammy Abraham was offside and I thought, oh okay, he's going to put the flag up.

"And then it didn't come. I don't know whether the officials now, because of VAR, don't go up with the game, and even if they miss it, they think 'oh, it doesn't matter, VAR will catch it'.

"There's no VAR tonight, so unfortunately Newcastle have given a goal away when it shouldn't [have stood]."

TNT Sports pundit Alan Hutton had his say on the incident too, adding: "It's a great finish, but, ultimately, he's offside. It will be interesting to see where the linesman was actually looking at the time, because nobody was thinking that Douglas Luiz was going to dink that over the wall there.

"They got away with one, no doubt about it. He was definitely offside."

Later in the first half, Digne was given a yellow card for a challenge on Jacob Murphy, but many will believe it could have been red.

"It's not a very good challenge at all," was Ward's verdict.

In the second half came another eye-opening incident where the absence of VAR came under scrutiny.

Newcastle were awarded a free-kick for a handball by Digne, but the incident clearly occurred inside the penalty area.

"He's miles inside," Matterface said.

Ward added: "My word, he's about a yard inside. Why isn't his assistant helping him on that side? It was a bit of a laughable decision to be honest. If you were a Newcastle fan, you would be absolutely raging."

Speaking after the match, Ferdinand said: "If he's seen it, and he's seen it as a free-kick, the linesman on this side has to see it and tell him it's inside the box.

"It's not even close. He's five yards inside the box, so how he's missed that, I have no idea."

Hutton was just as perplexed, saying: "[Digne] is two yards inside the box. He puts his hands up. That's a penalty.

"If VAR looks at that, it's a penalty, but I believe that the referee or the linesman on that side should be seeing that."

'Not a very good challenge at all' - Yellow for Digne - but should he have seen red?

Video credit: TNT Sports

Ferdinand suggested that officiating had become "lazy" because of VAR.

He said: "I'm starting to wonder, and I don't want to stand here and bash the officials, has officiating become lazy, because VAR is there?

"If they do miss a decision, usually VAR can correct it. Because I saw a few decisions today that perhaps, if VAR was available, the decisions would have been different.

"I just wonder if that is causing officials to miss things that they normally would get."

Hutton added: "You become used to something. Something is there to back you up, the technology is there to be used, and - Les is right - you can just become a bit lazy, in terms of falling back onto it.

"I just feel with the handball, it was so far inside the box, how do you get that wrong?"

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