Guaita hands it to Blades but VAR’s the villain
THE PRIMARY benefit of the video assistant referee, we were told, was that it would aid in the removal of doubt. It would provide a strong case for the man in the middle to make decisions one way or the other. A clear picture.
So, naturally, the biggest talking points of this smash-andgrab win for Sheffield United were decided by VAR — and nobody could agree on them.
Blades manager Chris Wilder saw the decision not to send off an already-booked George Baldock one way, and Palace boss Roy Hodgson another. But VAR could not intervene, as it was a yellow-card offence being determined.
In the second half, referee Andy Madley’s eyes told him one thing when he showed a red card to Joel Ward for a lunge at Enda Stevens. But minutes later — at the advice of his video assistant and when directed to the pitchside monitor — they told him something else. This time, a yellow card was the outcome.
Vicente Guaita would have been only too happy that there were other incidents to focus on.
The Palace goalkeeper gifted Sheffield United all three points here by dropping Oliver Norwood’s corner over his own line on the hour.
The game was drifting aimlessly to a stalemate when the Spaniard went up to claim the inswinger. Norwood’s cross was looping and high, but it was a routine catch — or should have been. The ball spun off Guaita’s fingertips and bounced down beyond the goalline.
Sheffield United were ahead before their first shot on target, and held on to move back into the top six after a first top-flight win in London since October 1992. For Palace, it was a seventh game without a win in all competitions, leaving them 13th and in a relegation fight. Their buffer to the drop zone is now just six points.
They had dominated the first half, having 70 per cent of the ball and ensuring their visitors did not have a single shot for Guaita to worry about. Perhaps he would have been better off with the practice.
Hodgson welcomed back Christian Benteke and Patrick van Aanholt from six-week absences, and Van Aanholt linked up well with Wilfried Zaha down the left. The Ivorian winger was the game’s sole spark, although the Blades’ plan to extinguish it with cynical fouls produced the first flashpoint. Baldock had already been booked for a tug of Zaha’s shirt when he mistimed another challenge on him on 34 minutes, and the visiting wing back was lucky not to be sent off.
‘We’re not a malicious side but we’re competitive and this is a competitive sport,’ said Wilder. ‘If that had been a yellow card we’d have been disappointed — but it seems to be going that way in the Premier League, which we’re not used to after two years in the Championship.’
And Hodgson? ‘I see James Tomkins get a yellow for the first foul we make and we’re fouled time after time which eventually leads to Baldock’s yellow, and then another foul which doesn’t. That could have been red, and could have contributed to the outcome. But it didn’t.
‘Football is ifs and buts, it’s not an exact science. VAR’s trying to make it scientific but will never succeed.’
With his opposite number now walking a wafer-thin tightrope, Zaha charged forward again and again, drifting one cross agonisingly across the six-yard line before working with James McArthur to set up Van Aanholt on 43 minutes, but the Dutchman blazed over.
Sheffield United drew their first two saves from the Palace keeper after their goal and on 72 minutes, Ward went in on Stevens. This time, VAR bailed out Hodgson’s side.
‘It came to the referee’s rescue really,’ he added. ‘What bothers me about that is that there are people in Stockley Park seeing that and not being sure and sending the referee to the screen. If you see that with all the angles, and you still think that’s a red card, then I’m worried about VAR.’
The debate may rage, but the end results were all that mattered: a yellow card for Ward, a reprieve for Baldock and another win for Sheffield United. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-3-3): Guaita 4; Ward 6, Tomkins 6, Cahill 6, Van Aanholt 6.5; McArthur 6 (Kouyate 85min), Milivojevic 6, McCarthy 6 (Meyer 80); Ayew 6, Benteke 5 (Townsend 77), Zaha 7.5. Booked: Tomkins, Milivojevic, Ward. Subs (not used): Hennessey, Kelly, Dann, Riedewald. SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Henderson 7; Basham 4, Egan 6, O’Connell 6; Baldock 6, Berge 5 (Lundstram 68, 6), Norwood 5.5, Fleck 6, Stevens 6.5; Sharp 5 (Mousset 64, 5.5), McBurnie 5 (Osborn 90). Booked: Baldock, Fleck. Subs (not used): Verrips, Jagielka, Robinson, Freeman. Referee: A Madley (West Yorkshire) 4.