Ref chiefs tell Sarri: Kane call WAS right
THE GREAT VAR DEBATE
THE referees’ bosses at the PGMOL are satisfied that Michael Oliver and video assistant Chris Kavanagh were correct to award Tottenham a controversial penalty against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Maurizio Sarri was furious after losing 1-0 at Wembley to a penalty scored by Harry Kane and awarded by Oliver after consultation with Kavanagh.
Sarri paraded footage from Chelsea’s own video analysts to support his claim that Kane was offside before he was fouled by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Kavanagh would not have been able to access this precise piece of footage, filmed by Chelsea’s own analysis team from the gantry, and the lines they superimposed on to the pitch.
Instead, the VAR made his decision using replays from angles made available by Sky Sports. The virtual offside lines are added to the Sky footage using Hawk-Eye software, which is trusted and was tested before the game.
Chelsea’s are not verified and the ball in Sarri’s still image was blurred, which could mean the frame was frozen a split-second too late. This is unlikely to soothe any sense of injustice at Stamford Bridge. Defender Marcos Alonso claimed the VAR system created confusion and accused assistant referee Simon Bennett of not knowing how it worked.
‘Watching it on the video it looks like it is offside,’ said Alonso. ‘And the linesman stopped and put the flag up so we all stopped.
‘The referee told me they had explained it to us already but maybe they haven’t explained it to this linesman because he stopped and if there is any doubt that it’s not offside he has to continue running.
‘The guy stopped. If we have to wait for VAR he has to continue but he stopped, so it’s a bit confusing. I think it changes things, because maybe Kepa gets out to the ball quicker or maybe as a defender you run back but we stopped because the linesman stopped.’
Under the latest guidelines, the assistant referees are not supposed to flag immediately for offside but to let play develop.
From the PGMOL perspective, Chelsea should have played to the whistle. But when asked if VAR was creating more problems than it was solving, Alonso said: ‘I think so, even when you look at it on the computer it looks offside, so I don’t understand how it works.
‘It created a lot of confusion. I don’t know what they have to do, but they have to explain it properly to the linesmen, the referees, and to us.
‘It’s very disappointing because Spurs didn’t create us any trouble. We controlled the game and we were the better team but we lost.’
Kane converted his penalty in the 26th minute and Chelsea players could be seen pursuing the argument with officials in the tunnel at half-time.
‘I tried but it’s too late after the penalty,’ said Alonso when asked if he had spoken to the officials. ‘There is nothing we can do, just try to keep our heads in the game and score, which we couldn’t do.’
As for the idea of adding motivation to the second leg, at Stamford Bridge a fortnight today, he said: ‘Definitely. Motivation will be over the limit, and if we play like we did at Wembley, I think we will get a good result.’