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This day served as a reminder that many officials are capable of making sound decisions without relying on colleagues stationed in a TV booth miles away.
The advocates for VAR have been vocal this weekend, especially after referees made some questionable calls during the FA Cup’s third and fourth rounds, where the technology wasn’t utilized.
Leeds United progressed to the fifth round at Birmingham’s expense after a thrilling 120 minutes of play that saw Birmingham largely dominate. Despite this, Lukas Nmecha scored for Leeds early in the second half, only for Patrick Roberts to equalize, pushing the game into extra time. With no additional goals, the match went to a penalty shoot-out, where Tommy Doyle and Roberts missed their shots, while Leeds converted all four to secure their place in the next round. They were also fortunate with an earlier penalty call that favored them.
Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri saved a spot-kick in the penalty shootout to help his side see-off Birmingham
The Premier League side were pushed all the way by their Championship opponents
If VAR had been in play, a simple decision made by Tierney in an instant might have required a lengthy three or four-minute review.
Who knows, if the gang at Stockley Park had studied replays for long enough, perhaps they would have determined that the airflow from Longstaff’s moving boot had disrupted Vicente’s stride? Maybe it would have been a penalty after all – only for it to be overturned because, on closer examination, a stitch on Vicente’s boot was a fraction offside.
In fact, Leeds felt they should have had a spot-kick at the end of extra-time when Brenden Aaronson fell under Patrick Roberts’ challenge, but it was another 50-50 call that would have been disputed had VAR reversed it.
The reaction to Saturday’s mistakes, particularly in the Aston Villa-Newcastle game, has been maddening.
Just because a referee has a poor game, it does not mean that VAR is unequivocally ‘a good thing’. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe even acknowledged as much after watching his team’s 3-1 victory.
It is a fair bet supporters would be happy to swap the tiresome delays and baffling over-rules in exchange for a few more errors slipping through the net, which is why the temptation to introduce VAR throughout the Cup and in the EFL should be resisted.
Birmingham, of course, will hope to see a great deal more of VAR in the years ahead. US investment group Knighthead have huge plans for this club and they are targeting a second promotion in as many seasons, having returned to the Championship from League One last term. There was more heavy spending in January, too, to try to make the play-offs.
Chairman Tom Wagner, the driving force behind those ambitious plans, is currently recovering from a stroke but is said to have watched the game.
The Tilton End unfurled a banner that read ‘Get Well Soon, Tom’ while players wore TW13 – Wagner’s lucky number – on their sleeves.
Patrick Roberts had pulled the hosts level to force the game to extra time
Wagner would have liked what he saw in the first half. Though both sides made six changes, Birmingham settled quicker – no surprise for a team beaten only once at home in the Championship this season. Lucas Perri had been recalled in goal for Leeds and he made a stunning stop in the 11th minute, turning Jay Stansfield’s angled effort on to the bar at full stretch.
It was all Blues. Gabriel Gudmundsson slid to cut out Vicente’s cross with Stansfield and August Priske lurking. Christoph Klarer’s goalbound header from Kai Wagner’s corner was blocked. Then Demarai Gray twice came close, first with a strike that hit team-mate Priske, and then drawing another stop from Perri following a slick break involving Priske and Vicente.
Frustrated that his team could not find the breakthrough, Vicente took matters into his own hands and was shown the yellow card for tumbling near Longstaff. Leeds were just glad to make it to half-time and boss Daniel Farke sent on Ethan Ampadu for the woeful Facundo Buonanotte.
Ampadu’s presence seemed to galvanise Leeds and four minutes into the second half they took the lead. Nmecha collected Noah Okafor’s pass, found space on his right foot and beat Ryan Allsop at the near post from 20 yards.
Birmingham did not lose heart and continued to force the pace, yet at the decisive moments they found luck and composure had deserted them.
During two second-half stoppages, Blues boss Chris Davies gathered his players for on-the-hoof team talks as they did everything to reach extra-time – and they finally had their reward when substitute Patrick Roberts’ 89th-minute strike from distance took a huge deflection off James Justin and flew past Perri.
And they should have won it with the last kick of normal time when Justin switched off, Ibrahim Osman – who missed several chances – hit the post and fellow sub Kanya Fujimoto’s follow-up was blocked by Jaka Bijol.