Newcastle United latest news: VAR will be in operation in the FA Cup Fifth Round this weekend.
A spot in the final eight of the FA Cup awaits the winner of Saturday night’s game - one that will mark the fifth time these two clubs have met this season. Two Premier League games and two in the Carabao Cup have preceded this weekend’s game - whilst a sixth meeting in all competitions is still possible if both progress to the Champions League final.
Pep Guardiola’s side have beaten lower league opposition at home in both of their previous outings in the FA Cup this season with a 10-1 win over Exeter City in the Third Round and a 2-0 triumph over Salford City last time out. Newcastle United, meanwhile, have had a much tougher draw and have beaten Bournemouth at St James’ Park and Aston Villa away from home to reach this stage.
That victory at Villa Park, though, came despite a number of big refereeing decisions going against them. Villa’s first goal was offside, but not spotted by the officiating team, with Lucas Digne then fortunate to avoid being shown a red card after catching Jacob Murphy with his studs.
Newcastle United’s misery was then compounded when they were denied a clear penalty with neither referee Chris Kavanagh or assistant Nick Greenhalgh, who was just metres away from Digne’s handball offence, spotting that the Frenchman was in his own penalty box when the ball struck his arm. Fortunately for the Magpies, they scored from the resulting free-kick and were able to emerge victorious to book their place in the last-16 of the competition.
Kavanagh and Greenhalgh were subsequently stood down from Premier League duty following that game. All of these mistakes came in the absence of VAR which was not used at Villa Park on that day.
VAR to be used in FA Cup Fifth Round matches
Newcastle United will be hoping for a much less controversial match this weekend and the use of VAR should, in theory, allow the football to be the centre of attention, rather than decisions made by the referee and his team. A statement on VAR’s usage in this season’s FA Cup read: ‘Video Assistant Referees (VAR) and Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will not be utilised in the third and fourth rounds of the 2025-26 Emirates FA Cup.
‘VAR and SAOT were not in operation until the fifth round last season, and this will continue to be the case during the current edition of the competition.
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‘VAR will be used for every tie from this season’s fifth round onwards, and this ensures that there is a consistent refereeing approach for all clubs in the third and fourth rounds.
‘SAOT will be active from the fifth round onwards at all matches taking place in Premier League stadiums, due to the technology and infrastructure that it requires.
‘Goal-line technology will be operational from the third round onwards for all fixtures hosted by Premier League and EFL Championship clubs.’
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