Keith Hackett has dropped his view on the VAR official not drawing lines for Harry Kane's second goal for Tottenham Hotspur against Newcastle United.
The England international captain was put through by Tanguy Ndombele before striking the ball into the bottom corner to put Spurs 2-1 up at St. James' Park before half-time in a game which eventually finished 2-2 thanks to a late equalizing goal from Arsenal loanee Joe Willock.
While the call to see whether Kane was offside was quickly checked by VAR, there was no sign of the usual incessant frame-by-frame line-drawing that has often occurred, and thus the goal was given.
Speaking to Football Insider, Hackett, who is a former referee in the Premier League, claimed that it was the right decision in the end and that he is not a fan of the lines being drawn for tight offside calls:
“I thought that was a good goal.
“There were screams of ‘Where’s the lines on this one?’ but I’m against the lines anyway.
“Therefore I think, actually, it underpins the fact that the match official, the assistant referee has made a good decision. They are capable of doing that at the Premier League level.
“We might have some iffy referees but in the main, we’ve got some outstanding assistant referees.
“There’s an expectation that every scenario should be checked. Ok, fine, if that’s what you want. But I think this is how football should be played and VAR should come in on what is a clear and obvious error and this wasn’t a clear and obvious error.
“I’ve been complaining about the lines all season so I was quite happy with that goal.”
More VAR controversy
Even though Hackett claims that the right decision was made in the end, the lines should have been drawn and visible in the context of the consistency of what has been happening for the rest of the 2020/21 term.
Kane may well have been found not to be offside, but the lines are drawn to make sure that he is either shown to be onside or offside and thus the correct call can be made.
Nonetheless, Steve Bruce's team will not be too bothered by the incident as the Toon Army grabbed what could turn out to be a big point in their hopes of avoiding being relegated down to the EFL Championship.