Serie A Shows VAR Can Work And Everyone Can Learn Lessons From It

Serie A Shows VAR Can Work And Everyone Can Learn Lessons From It
12:04, 24 Sep 2018

Just like in their midweek Champions League fixture with Tottenham, Inter were heading into the final minutes of their match away to Sampdoria this weekend desperate to get a result. Versus the English club, a brilliant goal from Mauro Icardi followed by midfielder Matias Vecino finding the back of the net ensured a smash-and-grab victory, and the following Saturday was no different.

Inter had the ball in the back of the net via a Radja Nainggolan volley right on half-time, however VAR ruled that Mauro Icardi was in an offside position and blocking the goalkeeper’s view, so it was promptly disallowed. Inter huffed and puffed and, after being held 0-0 by Samp for 75 minutes, the match suddenly sparked into life.

Kwadwo Asamoah was one of the least likely candidates to score from Inter’s lineup, yet the full-back thumped home with a superb effort from the edge of the box as the play had been going from end-to-end. Yet his joy was short-lived as VAR ruled that the ball had gone out of play in the build-up, and Samp were soon to suffer the same fate.

Just minutes from time, Gregoire Defrel took his shirt off in celebration as he thought he had fired in the winner, yet VAR once again ruled that he had been offside when the ball was played into him. Inter would score the winner deep into stoppages, but the headlines were shared with the system of officiating.

Now into its second season in Serie A, VAR is working well, and the aforementioned match proved that correct decisions can be made without ruining the excitement or spoiling the flow of the game. Those final minutes were just as thrilling with brief pauses to check the decisions, and it served to ensure that the final result was correct without affecting the gripping excitement.

VAR had also been used during Fiorentina’s 3-0 win over SPAL on Saturday, as Jasmin Kurtic was given a straight red for what seemed to be a terrible tackle on Viola Captain German Pezzella, however the replay proved it wasn’t as bad as first thought and his punishment was rightly reduced to a yellow.

SPAL were already well-beaten at this point, however the correct decision in this instance saved Kurtic from an automatic suspension, a factor that this small team will have been immensely grateful for. AC Milan too, had a goal disallowed in their 2-2 draw with Atalanta, scorer Giacomo Bonaventura only marginally offside before he headed home, but the decision was correct all the same.

This weekend’s fixtures in the Italian top flight have proven that VAR can work in a seamless fashion, getting decisions right without killing the enjoyment of the match for supporters. Indeed, Juventus wished the same technology was in operation in the Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo looked to have been given a harsh straight red versus Valencia last Wednesday.

“I won’t exclude [VAR] being used later this season, but for now it doesn’t look like it will,” UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin told Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport back in August.  “Nothing’s set in stone yet, but the plan is to start using VAR in the next year’s [European] Super Cup and then the Champions League playoffs, before the group stage.

“Something needs to improve, but at the World Cup it worked quite well. VAR isn’t completely clear right now, but we also know there is no way back.”

If this weekend’s Serie A games have proved anything, it’s that VAR can and does work. The sooner it can be rolled out across the board, the better.

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