VAR: Do lengthy decisions ruin matches as a spectacle?

Tammy Abraham thought he had a dream goal on his Aston Villa debut.

Four minutes after he celebrated the goal, the goal was canceled after a review by the video assistant referee.

Aston Villa have good reason to feel aggrieved.

Nineteen seconds is a long time to go back to prevent a goal in the Premier League. The ball was next to the corner flag at the opposite end of the field.

It’s been a very long time in fact, the furthest the VAR system has gone back in the attacking phase.

Then there is the nature of the review itself. Did the VAR technician, Paul Tierney, have conclusive evidence that the entire ball was over the goal line?

Cast your mind back to November 2023.

Newcastle United scored against Arsenal and after a lengthy VAR review were allowed to stand.

The VAR felt he had no evidence that Joe Willock failed to keep the ball in play. Part of the problem was that there was no live camera on the line to show the curvature of the ball relative to the line.

Can we say that Leon Bailey definitely failed to keep the ball?

Looks like the ball might have been out. But perhaps that shouldn’t be enough for VAR to rule out a goal.

Aston Villa coach Unai Emery said after the match: “I have to accept the referee’s decision, but I think it is unfair.”

You can see his point. Even Brentford boss Keith Andrews said he had “not seen conclusive evidence”.

But Andrews added: “It’s the million-dollar question [if fair to call it back so far] But it’s the same stage of play. “I’m relieved.”

Danny Murphy felt the decision confirmed his view on how VAR could impact the game.

“If you were Aston Villa and it happened to you the other way, you would say the ball was out of play,” Murphy said.

“But it goes back to what I originally said. Is it about making the right decisions or is it about the good of the game?”

The right decision? probably.

Is it true that VAR will intervene? Maybe not.