Harry Kane gave Tottenham Hotspur the lead from the penalty spot in tonight's Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley and it was one of the biggest VAR calls of the season.
The Spurs striker was through on goal after a superb pass out of defence by Toby Alderwierd but he was brought down by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Chelsea defenders looked across the line to see the assistant referee had his flag up assuming the penalty shout was in vain.
But referee Michael Oliver sent the incident to VAR and after several minutes of anaylsis, the spot kick was awarded and Chelsea keeper was shown the yellow card (more on that later). The offside uncertainty was quickly resolved with Kane declared. Without VAR the flag would have meant the move was offside.
Kane made no mistake from the spot to give Spurs a 1-0 lead. The clinically taken penalty means Kane is now Tottenham's fourth-best goalscorer, with 160 in 243 appearances.
Premier League viewers are going to have to get used to delays and decisions like this with VAR being introduced at all games from next season. But on this occasion, nobody could argue that a penalty was the correct call.
The decision was warmly welcomed as you might expect by Spurs fans on social media though many thought that Kepa was lucky not to be sent off for such a clear foul.
Either way, it gave Spurs a crucial advantage in a game where both sides have struggled to get going.
