SALUTE’S NO KNEE-JERK ACT

UNITY, choreography, controversy.

Put to one side for a second that extraordinary failure to give a clearly legitimate, first-half goal to Sheffield United.

The Black Lives Matter tribute, as referee Michael Oliver blew to end all the talking, all the waiting and all the anticipation, was something else.

Every player, on both sides, spreading out and bending the knee across the pitch – along with all the officials.

Just stunning.

Let us not kid ourselves, football likes a gimmick. But with the eyes of 212 territories around the world watching, this felt like something else. As for the action, football has always been very much like the Saturday night lottery draw.

For all the whistles, the bells and the razzmatazz, all anyone is ever interested in are the numbers.

So it was here at the start of this brave new world.

The arm bumps between Blades boss Chris Wilder, Villa counterpart Dean Smith and the respective backroom teams were no different to what we were all doing before the lockdown started.

Sheffield United’s pre-match huddle, however, will have confused the millions of viewers told beforehand that any goals would have to be celebrated in isolation.

There also seemed little point in both Villa and United, some of whose players boasted suspiciously neat haircuts, lining up before the match started to face the vast banks of empty stands.

The minute’s silence, taking place as a tribute to those affected by the global coronavirus pandemic, sadly felt more like 20 seconds.

Then, that tribute. Executed to perfection.

The game had the feel of a cross between a pre-season friendly and a regional schools cup final.

The crowd noise in the background worked. Even if the operator at times had the touch of a Twister competitor.

My living room loved touchline reporter Jamie Redknapp, left, who sounded more like snooker legend Whispering Ted Lowe. The action flowed courtesy of those disinfected spare balls around the pitch perimeter. The only ball that should have counted, however, was the one so far over the line that it bulged the side-netting. Where was VAR in the hour of need?