Online Reporter
WAYNE ROONEY and Alan Shearer blasted “one of the worst decisions ever in football” after three huge refereeing errors as Newcastle knocked Aston Villa out of the FA Cup.
VAR was not in use for the fourth-round action – including at the Premier League stadiums.
Tammy Abraham gave the hosts an early lead from an offside position before Lucas Digne was lucky to stay on the pitch after a shocking sliding challenge.
To compound matters for Newcastle, ref Kavanagh only awarded the Toon a free-kick when Digne clearly handled the ball INSIDE the penalty box.
And the pair of BBC pundits slammed the officials in a stinging rant in the studio.
Shearer blasted: “There was perhaps a small excuse for the referee to not see this – and I’m being kind to him.
“But there was no excuse whatsoever for the assistant who is 10 or 15 yards away – Nick Greenhalgh, who had an absolute nightmare today.
“He cost for the offside free-kick and was 15 yards away from that – goodness me.
“If you ever needed any evidence of the damage VAR has done to the referees today is a great example of that because these guys looked petrified to make decisions because they didn’t have a comfort blanket.
“That’s the damage VAR has done to officials. For me they are actually getting worse.
“I really don’t think that is a difficult decision at all, in fact it is easy, and at this standard that has to be given. There is no excuse for the assistant not to tell his referee. He has got that totally wrong.”
And Rooney added: “That decision is one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in football because at no stage was Digne out the penalty box. He is three or four yards inside the penalty box.
“The referee looked like he blew and it looked like he was listening on his ‘ears’ so I’m assuming the linesman has given that decision – and it’s an absolute shocker.”
Abraham, 28, was found from Douglas Luiz’s clever free-kick, control and finished past Newcastle keeper Aaron Ramsdale.
But replays showed that the returning striker, who sealed a move from Besiktas last month, was lucky to see his goal stand after failing to time his run – although assistant referee Greenhalgh’s flag stayed down.
Having seen the opener again, BBC co-commentator Danny Murphy said: “He looks a yard off to me.”
Newcastle chief Eddie Howe and his players were fuming again when Digne slid in high on Jacob Murphy but escaped with only a yellow card – and it could not be upgraded to a red.
Murphy claimed that the French left-back was “lucky” not to be given his marching orders.
But there was more chaos in first-half stoppage time as Villa shot-stopper Marco Bizot was sent off after rushing out of his goal and clattering Murphy in the knee near the halfway line as a key decision finally went Newcastle’s way.
But then after the break came another blunder when Kavanagh gave a free-kick even though Digne was a yard or two inside the area when he blocked a cross with his elbow – and the ref was not helped out by Greenhalgh on the near touchline.
The Magpies still managed to come from behind to notch a 3-1 win – thanks to Sandro Tonali’s brace and Nick Woltemade’s late clincher.
But fans flooded to social media to vent their fury about the refereeing shockers.
One said: “Bring back VAR. That’s terrible by the linesman, not even close.”
Another added: “Mad how offside goals count in the FA Cup because of no VAR. Tammy Abraham is like a yard offside.”
A third chimed in: “You can hate VAR but Newcastle have been robbed lol.”
A fourth noted: “Wasn’t VAR brought in because of decisions like this? Our standards of referees has been and remains poor.”
And another frustrated fan simply commented: “Bring back VAR.” – Sun
