Without the intervention of technology, Manchester City would be through to a Champions League semi-final and Spurs would have been robbedThere is always the chance, when English clubs meet in European knockout football, that players who know each other so well will treat it as a pumped-up Premier League encounter rather than showing the respect and caution they might have afforded continental opponents, and the memorably frenetic showdown between Manchester City and Tottenham was an instant classic of the genre.Never mind the woeful defending in the first 20 minutes, the inability of either side to hold on to an advantage or manage the game professionally, this was English football at its most appealing because both teams were going for goals...
No one really knows whether the Manchester City right-back should have been sent off – all we really have are opinionsIt seemed fitting that this FA Cup semi-final should end with Manchester City’s players keeping the ball in a kind of ad hoc rondo deep in the Brighton half, 1-0 up and just doing enough, their opponents held at arm’s length like an outmatched little brother, fists windmilling uselessly.It seemed fitting the victory tune on the Wembley PA should be Wonderwall, with its downbeat, ruminative opening chords. It seemed fitting also that it should be Brighton’s fans who cheered loudest in those moments, the entire end on its feet applauding the players for reaching this far, for an energetic performance,...
A baffling decision not to review a clear foul on Nicolò Zaniolo cost Roma a penalty and added to frustration with technology“There’s nothing to say,” lamented Francesco Totti. And then he said it anyway. “We’re all here asking ourselves how the guys in the VAR booth didn’t see [a foul on Nicolò Zaniolo inside the penalty area]. It’s an embarrassment. What are they doing?”The incident occurred shortly after the half-hour mark in Roma’s game at home to Inter. Receiving a pass with his back to goal on the edge of the box, Zaniolo turned and weaved past Danilo D’Ambrosio. The defender stuck out a foot and brought him down. Related: Nagelsmann and Tedesco fly flag for Bundesliga's young and reckless...
Manager’s VAR anguish would be permissible if it did not entirely oppose his previous grumble over Southampton’s treatmentAlmost 20 years into his career as a manager, we finally appear to have reached peak Mark Hughes. Following Southampton’s Carabao Cup defeat on penalties at Leicester, he used his post-match interview to complain about a refereeing decision that had not gone his team’s way. In itself, that was not unusual – rarely a weekend goes by in which Hughes does not publicly lay blame for their many shortcomings at the door of officialdom. Long before Donald Trump developed a reputation for tediously ranting and raving about the perceived injustices repeatedly inflicted upon him by the Fake News Media, Hughes had earned one...
Whatever the objections, video technology in the Champions League cannot be worse than what happened at the EtihadThe first thing to say about the Raheem Sterling “penalty” incident that caused so much amusement and embarrassment in Manchester City’s 6-0 rout of Shakhtar Donetsk at the Etihad is that Viktor Kassai, the Hungarian referee who immediately pointed to the spot, was directly behind the chasing defender and probably thought a foul had been committed. Related: Manchester City paid Roberto Mancini extra money via Abu Dhabi club, leak says Related: VAR enjoys largely positive World Cup debut to confound football’s luddites Continue reading...