Aberdeen’s Premiership misery deepened when they went down 2-0 against Hearts – but how did we rate the performance of the referee and other officials at Tynecastle?
The man in the middle in Gorgie on Saturday was Kevin Clancy, assisted by Alan Muir on VAR.
Was Miovski contact on Baningime before striker’s wonder-goal clear-and-obvious enough for VAR review?
After a tense opening quarter, the away team looked to have taken the lead, and it was Bojan Miovski once again for the Dons, who curled a fantastic finish past Zander Clark.
The celebrations were short-lived, however, as a VAR review for a foul in the build-up was announced.
From the other end of the pitch, it was clear there had been some form of contact on Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime when he fell chasing Connor Barron before he played in Miovski to score.
I initially thought it was his own player who had clipped him.
However, VAR official Muir sent Clancy to the monitor, which, of course, tends to mean the on-field decision is about to be changed.
Miovski’s goal was eventually disallowed after another substantial VAR wait, for a foul by the striker on Baningime.
Having seen a replay of the incident, I do think it was, again, another soft VAR decision.
It was a completely accidental collision – Miovski wasn’t even looking at Baningime, but his legs make contact with the opposition player’s legs as he runs behind him, sending the Hearts man to the ground.
I can understand why it was deemed a foul, as the tangle with Miovski did stop Baningime getting closer to Barron and it did have an impact on the play.
But was it a clear-and-obvious mistake? I don’t think so.
I don’t think anyone would’ve been outraged had the goal stood.
Baningime himself didn’t even claim a foul – he knew it was just an accidental collision.
Handball against Devlin shows how harsh current rules can be
The second massive call in the game was the awarding of a penalty to the home team, again following a VAR check.
Nicky Devlin blocked a cross into the Aberdeen box, with the ball hitting his arm.
The referee didn’t give a penalty. Once again, it was VAR making the decisions.
Handball is such a grey area in football nowadays, and the rules can be interpreted in different ways.
Devlin was trying so hard to get his arm out of the way, and was pulling his arm back towards his body.
Is it unnatural, given the arm initially came up as a consequence of him jumping into the path of the ball?
By the laws of the game and football now, it probably is a penalty.
I personally think it’s harsh – handballs generally can be so harsh now – but I understand why the referee has awarded it following the review.
VAR making all of the decisions for referees
The thing that I find frustrating about both VAR calls – and a lot of the VAR calls this season – is the fact that nine times out of 10 the referee is actually in a very good position to see the incident.
Clancy initially ignored both incidents, before being sent to the monitor by VAR official Muir.
And there is a lot of pressure on refs to change the decision when they go to the monitor, even though, as I’ve said, Clancy had a really good look when the incidents actually happened.
Ultimately, referees should referee the game, not VAR – and I’m not sure that’s the case.
Finlay Elder was a registered referee for six years and a category 5 official from 2019, with experience in the Highland League, Juniors and Club Academy.
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