{"id":480431,"date":"2026-02-14T23:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480431\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T23:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T23:08:08","slug":"sandro-tonali-fires-newcastle-past-10-man-aston-villa-on-bad-night-for-officials-fa-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/480431\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandro Tonali fires Newcastle past 10-man Aston Villa on bad night for officials | FA Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football\u2019s interminable video assistant refereeing debate has its latest chapter after a bizarre evening and officiating performance at Villa Park. With the FA Cup<\/a> not allowing the video protocol until the fifth round, this was an occasion to make the abolitionists think twice. Is elite football already too far gone to officiate without a bank of screens in a faraway business park? Or were Chris Kavanagh, a referee promoted to the Uefa elite list in December, and his assistants just having a nightmare day at the office?<\/p>\n

Sandro Tonali\u2019s two goals and Nick Woltemade\u2019s clincher booked Newcastle\u2019s fifth-round place, completing a comeback in the face of officiating mistakes weighing against Eddie Howe\u2019s team. It was Aston Villa<\/a> who lost their discipline. They should have been down to 10 men earlier than they eventually were.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the benefit of replays and we felt very aggrieved,\u201d said Eddie Howe before playing a diplomatic card. \u201cI think the referees and officials are making honest decisions. They\u2019ve got them wrong on more than one occasion but I thought the players did really well to control their emotions, to stay calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marco Bizot brings down Jacob Murphy to earn a red card. Photograph: Serena Taylor\/Newcastle United\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In Unai Emery\u2019s view, the game\u2019s events had served as further proof in his belief that \u201cVAR is necessary to help referees, to have as a reference\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tammy Abraham\u2019s opener for Aston Villa, his first goal for the club since 2019, found Newcastle\u2019s defence slumbering when Douglas Luiz scooped a free-kick through. The striker was clearly offside. Perhaps both defenders and officials have become too reliant on the tech. No semi-automation here; the goal stood.<\/p>\n

VAR makes hypocrites of us all. Emery and Howe have been critical of the technology in recent weeks. In the Premier League, there would have been second looks on first-half penalty-area challenges on Lewis Hall and Harvey Barnes but Kavanagh let the game flow. Lucas Digne\u2019s first-half yellow card for clattering Jacob Murphy had a distinct tinge of red, the latter\u2019s leg having the stud marks to show it. Again, the decision stood. Good process?<\/p>\n

Seconds before the break, there was no mistake about Marco Bizot\u2019s dismissal, a rush of blood of volcanic proportions. Fully 45 yards from goal, the Villa goalkeeper\u2019s last-man foul on Murphy was incomprehensible. Bizot himself required a second look on the touchline video screen to make any sense of it. Emi Mart\u00ednez came on as sub keeper.<\/p>\n

Both starting XIs had betrayed greater interest in other competitions. Barring a Champions League miracle, the FA Cup represents Newcastle\u2019s sole chance of silverware to follow last year\u2019s Carabao Cup. Last March at Wembley was the realisation of a dream but Howe now deals in more prosaic realities. \u201cYou see all this stuff on social media which he doesn\u2019t deserve,\u201d said Kieran Trippier, Newcastle\u2019s captain. \u201cWe are fully behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season has been a sincere test of true faith for the Toon Army. Bruno Guimar\u00e3es\u2019s absence, with the prognosis he could miss 12 games, must be overcome. \u201cHe\u2019s devastated,\u201d said Howe. Newcastle have not won a league match without the Brazilian since March 2022. Could the FA Cup offer guidance?<\/p>\n

Villa, a man down, sitting back on their advantage, asked Newcastle to play through them. Initially, that did not come easy. More outrage followed when Digne handled in the box. It was plumb, and yet Kavanagh and his assistant Nick Greenhalgh ruled the offence outside. At least there was summary justice as Tonali clattered in the rebound of the resultant, errant free-kick to equalise. \u201cI\u2019m fairly sure it was a penalty,\u201d said Trippier, showing similar restraint to his manager. \u201cBut this is football, you have to react to disappointments and we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcastle seized merrily on their hard-won momentum. Anthony Gordon threw back his mane in disgust at a chance missed. Dan Burn was grappled to the floor by Pau Torres in the Villa box. Play on, said Kavanagh, ears now burning at the ridicule aimed his way.<\/p>\n

Tonali\u2019s second goal mirrored his first but was a yet sweeter hit, laid up by Burn. The withdrawal of Morgan Rogers and Douglas Luiz suggested surrender from Emery, as did the comedic defending from which Woltemade profited to score from close range. Check complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Football\u2019s interminable video assistant refereeing debate has its latest chapter after a bizarre evening and officiating performance at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-480431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}