What is VAR if not a distraction from the inconvenient business of football? This was a rotten advert for the FA Cup and a poor reflection on those who thought a Thursday night, fresh from a sprawling festive top-flight schedule, was the best time to kick off third round weekend. But football’s overuse of video intervention always leaves open the possibility of a flashpoint and controversy seekers were well served when, in the 79th minute of an earnestly fought but torpid draw, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was sent off.
Nobody had batted much of an eyelid in real time when Calvert-Lewin challenged Nathaniel Clyne just outside the Crystal Palace penalty area. Clyne went tumbling but no foul was given and the Everton striker emerged with possession. Little seemed amiss until, more than half a minute later, the portentous news of a VAR review boomed out over the Selhurst Park public address system. From there the outcome seemed set: Christopher Kavanagh ran to the screen, saw Calvert-Lewin had slid in with his studs up before glancing his opponent’s right shin, and pulled out the red card. It was harsh in the extreme.
