Cavani overcomes VAR disgrace: Neil Humphreys
Manchester United striker has last laugh as tech becomes a bad joke
Luckily, Manchester United had the last laugh. Two late goals left them smiling after a bad joke that stopped being funny months ago.
Nothing is funny about VAR any more. It's becoming offensive. The technology offends our sensibilities, whilst robbing games of any fun and spontaneity.
| TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | MANCHESTER UNITED |
| 1 | 3 |
| (Son Heung-min 40) | (Fred 57, Edinson Cavani 79, Mason Greenwood 90+6) |
In other words, VAR is clawing at the heart of the game and must be amended at the end of the season.
An exaggeration? Take the five minutes that altered the complexion of United's 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur this morning (Singapore time).
In the 34th minute, the visitors "scored" an exceptional goal. Paul Pogba slid an impudent pass through an opponent's legs and towards Edinson Cavani. The Uruguayan striker offered another masterclass in finishing, running behind Eric Dier and sweeping the ball home.
VAR ruled the goal out, not for anything Cavani or Pogba did, but for Scott McTominay's hand catching Son Heung-min in the face during the build-up.
There was contact, but it was as accidental as it was minimal. Contact isn't necessarily a foul.
However, once referee Chris Kavanagh was called to the monitor, there was going to be only one outcome. When a referee gets the call, he second-guesses his own judgment. If VAR's faceless bureaucrats make the call, they must be right.
But football must also be about interpretation, mood, intent, flow and instinct.
An excellent goal should've stood, not because it was an excellent goal, but because the gut said so. The collective, visceral response was indignation. Both United and the occasion had been robbed.
Five minutes later, Son scored. Of course he did. His finish, rounding off a fine Tottenham move, applied salt to an avoidable wound.
A previously terrible contest suddenly became a tetchy one. United saw red. A glowering Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appeared ready to kill someone.
Everyone else was talking about VAR. Again. Invisible men and their infernal machines had changed the course of a crucial English Premier League encounter. Again. And the rest of us felt shortchanged. Again.
Tedious conversations involving contact, real or imagined, miss the point. This is what the game has come to, finicky discussions about fingers brushing against cheeks, as if we're dissecting romantic encounters between lovesick teenagers rather than a professional tussle between grown men.
(And if McTominay was guilty of striking his opponent, how did he avoid a yellow card? And wasn't Son tugging at McTominay's elbow? And even if it was a foul, was it really a clear and obvious error?)
Yet again, VAR has triggered more questions than answers, when the process was introduced to do the complete opposite. Its laws are still being misinterpreted.
FIASCO
In truth, the controversy found a pulse for a game that was on life support, with both teams relying on counter-attacks and essentially bypassing their holding midfielders. Even so, Fred's equaliser felt like justice was served twice after the VAR fiasco.
In the 57th minute, the Red Devils' crisp, short passing eviscerated Spurs' dozing defenders until Hugo Lloris palmed away Cavani's shot. Fred tapped in the rebound.
Considering both sides were looking to consolidate or reassert their top-four claims, their respective efforts were frayed and scrappy, which led to a feisty encounter with blocked shots and near misses.
Thankfully, Cavani found the breakthrough that his teammates deserved, especially after a vastly improved second-half performance.
In the 79th minute, substitute Mason Greenwood's cross was whipped towards the far post and Cavani's magnificent flying header did the rest.
Greenwood then smashed home United's third in the dying seconds.
The Red Devils had finally defeated bureaucratic incompetence. Neither United nor Spurs were flawless, but the only clear and obvious error on show was VAR itself.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now