Video assistant referees (VARs) were trialed in domestic English soccer for the first time this week.
Unfortunately for Southampton, they are not being used in the Premier League.
Southampton on Saturday conceded a 90th-minute equalizer in its 2-2 draw at Watford after Abdoulaye Doucoure forced the ball into the net with his right hand.
Photo: Reuters
Southampton’s players protested, but neither the referee nor his assistants saw an offense. A VAR surely would have.
“If VAR had come in, we probably wouldn’t get that, but today we got it. It’s the luck of the draw,” said Watford captain Troy Deeney, who set up Doucoure’s goal.
VARs were on Monday last week deployed in domestic soccer for the FA Cup third-round game between Brighton and Crystal Palace. They were also used on Wednesday for the League Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Arsenal.
They remain a source of debate, but incidents like this one might hasten their arrival.
RECORD SETTER
Harry Kane overtook Teddy Sheringham as Tottenham’s record scorer in the Premier League era (since 1992) with a second-half double in a 4-0 win over Everton.
The England striker moved onto 98 goals, one more than Sheringham, and reached 20 goals in the league for the fourth consecutive year.
Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen scored the other goals at Wembley Stadium as Tottenham moved level with fourth-place Liverpool, whose game in hand was against Manchester City yesterday.
RODRIGUEZ REPORTED
West Bromwich Albion forward Jay Rodriguez is set to be investigated by the English Football Association for an alleged remark made to Brighton defender Gaetan Bong during West Brom’s 2-0 win.
Neither club has commented on the nature of Rodriguez’s alleged comment to the Cameroon international, but it has been reported to the referee and he will be obliged to include in it his report.
In an incident during the second half at the Hawthorns, Rodriguez pinched his nose after clashing with Bong, who alerted the match officials moments later.
It overshadowed West Brom’s first win in 20 league games, with Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson scoring the goals from corners.
REVIVALS CONTINUE
Crystal Palace and West Ham both won to continue their revivals under their new managers.
Palace did not have a point or a goal after seven games, but Roy Hodgson has engineered a turnaround that has seen the team lose just once in the league since then.
The latest win was 1-0 against Burnley, courtesy of Bakary Sako’s first-half goal.
Sitting level on points with Palace is West Ham, who have only lost one of their past eight games under David Moyes, who replaced the fired Slaven Bilic in early November.
West Ham won at Huddersfield 4-1, while Newcastle drew 1-1 with last-place Swansea City, who are four points from safety.
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