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The A-League's constant VAR debates are detracting from the football

28th October, 2018
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28th October, 2018
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“Isn’t it great to end the weekend talking about the football?” said Simon Hill on the back of Perth Glory’s thrilling 3-2 win over Melbourne Victory.

It sure is, Simon. Although it’s probably not a game Victory fans will want to chat about in a hurry.

Perth Glory may have got lucky with their opening two goals at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon, but they got themselves into the right positions to benefit.

Joel Chianese would have been offside for Glory’s first had the ball not bounced off Victory midfielder Terry Antonis, while Victory’s defending for Andy Keogh’s goal was nothing short of calamitous.

Even Chris Ikonomidis got a bit lucky when Lawrence Thomas could only parry Chianese’s shot into the one-time Wanderers midfielder’s path, but Ikonomidis kept his head to coolly side-foot home the winner deep in stoppage time.

And the whole thing was a fabulous spectacle to watch from start to finish.

There’s a real European quality to Melbourne Victory home games on Sunday afternoons.

But there wasn’t much European quality on display from German defender Georg Niedermeier when he literally ducked out of the way of Tomislav Mrcela’s long-range header to allow Keogh to nip in behind and lob the stranded Thomas.

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Niedermeier presumably got a call from Thomas to leave the ball, and it’s clear there’s still plenty of work to do from Victory’s new-look defence.

But the real story was Perth and the fact they look like being one of the toughest teams in the A-League to beat this season.

Tony Popovic

Tony Popovic has made a positive impact on the Glory already. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

They snapped up the chances that fell their way at AAMI Park, and they’ve got quality all over the pitch – even if they conceded a couple of sloppy goals.

How Brisbane Roar didn’t concede to visitors Wellington Phoenix in their scoreless draw at Suncorp Stadium only Steven Taylor will know, after the former Newcastle United defender hit the post from an absolute sitter.

In Taylor’s defence, the ricochet from Jamie Young came at him quickly and with Jack Hingert threatening to close down the space in which to slot home.

Nevertheless, the former Premier League star should have buried what looked like one of the easiest opportunities he’ll ever get, in what was otherwise a bit of a ho-hum encounter in Brisbane.

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Phoenix goalkeeper Filip Kurto proved his worth with a good save from the Roar’s impressive Spanish midfielder Alex Lopez in stoppage time, but on the whole, the game was nothing to write home about.

It wasn’t helped by a Suncorp Stadium playing surface that was so sandy in parts players were taking divots out of the pitch.

Brisbane Roar have worked hard to reconnect with their fan base and the more than 15,000 supporters who turned out was an impressive attendance – it’s just a shame the team rarely seems to run out on a decent surface at home.

brisbane-roar-supporter-a-league-football-2012

(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Don’t mention the VAR! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it alright.

What else can we say about the Sydney derby?

The worst thing about the decision to chalk off Roly Bonevacia’s goal on the hour mark for the Wanderers was that it completely took the sting out of the game.

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Instead of watching a thrilling final half hour with the score locked at 2-1, we were treated to one team retaining control and the other looking demoralised.

And while referee Chris Beath deserves credit for fronting the Fox Sports cameras and explaining the decision, some questions still remain.

Beath said after the match that the goal was ruled out because Jaushua Sotirio was in an offside position, yet he originally signalled for a foul on Michael Zullo.

And even if Sotirio was in an offside position, was he interfering with play?

The way VAR is being used in the A-League is contrary to the spirit of the game.

That was a decent round of football. It’s just a shame we’re all still talking about the Video Assistant Referee.

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