Wembley chaos puts spotlight on VAR

Critics of video assistant referee (VAR) technology were out in force after Tottenham’s 6-1 FA Cup replay win over Rochdale was marred by a string of controversial decisions and delays in the action.

At a freezing Wembley, referee Paul Tierney had supporters groaning as he kept them waiting during lengthy first-half stoppages, with VAR utilised to rule out an Erik Lamela goal and award Kieran Trippier a penalty.

The penalty was scored by Son Heung-min but his goal was disallowed due to his staggered run-up, before VAR was consulted a third time to confirm Tierney’s decision not to award Lucas Moura a penalty later in the half.

The decisions had little bearing on the game’s outcome in the end, as Spurs romped into the quarter-finals courtesy of two goals from Son, a Fernando Llorente hat-trick and a first club goal for Kevin Walker-Peters.

But the result didn’t spare VAR the wrath of players and pundits on Twitter.

Social roundup: VAR-cical scenes in FA Cup replay