Aberdeen played their first game of Scottish football’s new video assistant referee (VAR) era at the weekend – beating Motherwell 2-1 at Fir Park under the official-aiding technology’s watchful gaze.
Jim Goodwin’s Dons went in the game on a high after consecutive Pittodrie wins over Hearts and Partick Thistle.
In both matches they deployed a strike duo of Bojan Miovski and Luis “Duk” Lopes from the start and, while Duk had netted in both previous matches, Fir Park was the first time both he and top-scorer Miovski had both started and both scored in red.
The presence of VAR was crucial to Miovski’s early opener, with his superb dink over Well keeper Liam Kelly initially ruled out for offside before being given on review.
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It wasn’t even close to be fair, but this moment – and the styles of the two strikers – led some Aberdeen fans to suggest the implementation of VAR could aid Goodwin’s frontmen and their goal tallies going forward this season.
They have a point… especially when it comes to North Macedonian forward Miovski.
Since he arrived at Aberdeen in the summer, Miovski’s graceful, intelligent runs off-the-shoulder of defenders have been the classy hallmark of his game
But playing right on the edge like this has seen him flagged for offside more times than any of his team-mates. Seven times to be precise:
From the footage available, five of those offside calls (made without the aid of technology) were correct – moments where Miovski’s team-mates couldn’t get the pass away quick enough and he strayed beyond the last defender.
But two (also made pre-VAR) – which came in the 1-0 victory over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on August 20, and in the 5-0 victory over Livingston on August 27 – were borderline.
And, with VAR now available to officials, borderline calls matter even more than before.
As has been witnessed in other countries, VAR means officials will now be able to allow play to continue to a conclusion – like a goal – before the flag is raised and play is pulled back for offside, with the decision hopefully then reviewed and goal given if the offside call is wrong.
There’s a strong possibility, against Saints, Miovski would have turned this pass from Jonny Hayes into the net had play not been stopped immediately:
And it is a similar story with this other pre-VAR call against Livingston:
The footage on the Livi one isn’t the best, but – in the new VAR era – there would be a distinct possibility Miovski controls the through-ball he’s running for, finishes the chance and then whether he is on/offside (and, as a result, whether it is a legitimate goal) would be confirmed on review.
Neither of the borderline offside calls above cost Aberdeen victory, but the goal Miovski had ruled onside in the Dons’ first experience of VAR at Fir Park on Saturday – his ninth in all competitions – was crucial to their victory and demonstrated the technology’s value.
Again, the run against Well was nowhere near offside, but due to the way Miovski plays and moves on the pitch – just onside for large parts of the game – there will almost certainly be more moments (tighter moments) in the future where VAR plays a part in getting his name on the scoresheet.
Of course, it could work the other way, too, with goals chalked off – but, with Miovski’s talent and goal count already, he looks capable of getting it right more times than not and any further strikes which he racks up with assistance from VAR could have a big bearing on Aberdeen’s season.
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