Alan Shearer offered a withering assessment of the decisions made by the match officials in Newcastle’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa on Saturday night
Alan Shearer lambasted the decision-making in Newcastle’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa
Alan Shearer lambasted the decision-making in Newcastle’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa(Image: (Marc Atkins/Getty Images))
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Alan Shearer was left furious by a number of controversial decisions made during Newcastle United’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa – and now a former PGMOL chief has backed him up. VAR was not in use for the fourth-round action – including at the Premier League stadiums – and it is safe to say that it was missed at Villa Park as Eddie Howe's side moved into round five thanks to a 3-1 victory.
Tammy Abraham gave Villa the lead in controversial circumstances, as replays showed the forward was in an offside position. There was then widespread bemusement when Newcastle were awarded a free-kick rather than a penalty after Lucas Digne handled well inside the box, with the Frenchman also lucky not to be sent off for a dangerous high challenge on Jacob Murphy.
And while referee Chris Kavanagh didn’t deem Digne’s reckless challenge on Murphy a red card offence, former Professional Game Match Officials Board chief Keith Hackett believes the former Everton full-back should have been given his marching orders.
“The challenge by Digne should have received a red card,” he said. “It was clear serious foul play.” It was not the only decision that went against Newcastle that Hackett deemed to be an error.
When asked about the decision not to award Newcastle a penalty, a baffled Hackett told Football Insider: “Oh dear. Referee Chris Kavanagh really should have received appropriate intervention by the assistant to advise that it was in the penalty area.”
Shearer lambasted the decision-making made by the officials after the game, highlighting assistant referee Nick Greenhalgh’s role above that of Kavanagh.
“There was perhaps a small excuse for the referee to not see this (handball being in the box) – and I’m being kind to him – but there was no excuse whatsoever for the assistant who is 10 or 15 yards away,” he said.
“(Greenhalgh) had an absolute nightmare today. 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.
Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier talk with referee Chris Kavanagh during Newcastle United's FA Cup win over Aston Villa
Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier talk with referee Chris Kavanagh during Newcastle United's FA Cup win over Aston Villa(Image: (Molly Darlington/Getty Images))
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“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.”
Shearer’s fellow BBC pundit Wayne Rooney was also seething about the failure to award a spot-kick against Digne.
“That decision is one of the worst decisions I have ever seen in football,” he said. “At no stage was Digne out of the penalty box. He is three or four yards inside.
“The linesman is just in front of it and you can clearly see how much he is in the penalty box. The referee looked like he blew and looked like he was listening to someone in his ear, so I’m assuming the linesman gave the decision, and it’s an absolute shocker.”
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