Melbourne derby overshadowed by yet another VAR controversy

The A-League’s bumpy relationship with VAR his another pothole in the Melbourne derby.

Referee Kurt Ams signals for the VAR during the A-League match between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City at Marvel Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

When it comes to Australian ­soccer, the more things change the more they stay the same.

The last A-League season ended in uproar over the video ­assistant referee following the grand final in May, and now the new one has started with more controversy despite promises of an improved system that would supposedly take the heat out of one of the most divisive ­issues in the sport.

Sadly, Melbourne City’s come-from-behind 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night in the opening round of the season has been over shadowed by something out of the team’s control.

There was so much to like about the Melbourne derby, with a crowd of more than 40,000, a bubbling atmosphere and Victory import Keisuke Honda’s performance. But here we are talking about ­referees and the VAR.

Their impact on the game ­revolved around a 36th-minute ­incident in which referee Kurt Ams awarded Melbourne City a free-kick just outside the penalty area, after Bruno Fornaroli went down in the middle of a ring of arms and legs.

Ams initially awarded a free-kick, before it was decided he should look at the video to determine whether the foul was in fact inside the area. On review, he changed his decision to a penalty.

While that decision was ­correct, the fact he gave a free-kick in the first place came under serious question, with many fans and critics, including former Socceroo and now Fox Sports football analyst Mark Bosnich, declaring Fornaroli wasn’t even fouled and that Ams “got it horribly wrong”.

“It is a stuff-up … an absolutely disgraceful decision and I am sick of this,” Bosnich said at halftime.

“The reason we have got the VAR is for decisions like this, for the referee to have a look at it and realise that it wasn’t even a foul. I’ve always backed referees, saying it’s a difficult job, but if this is going to continue they start needing to lose their jobs for a couple of weeks.”

However, if you were looking for Victory boss Kevin Muscat to explode in a fit of fury then you would be wrong. He did not place the blame on VAR.

It was a circumspect Muscat after the game. Maybe the fact his side was the beneficiary of a VAR situation that helped them win the grand final against Newcastle Jets was in the back of his mind.

He suggested it was more the referee’s error but said he was not “pouring this on Kurt, because everyone makes mistakes”.

“How far do you want me to go?” Muscat said. “You can have your opinion, but there is no point me sharing mine and getting me into trouble.

“I’ll just go so far as to say it wasn’t a foul. Simple as that.

“I think it surprised everybody, their players included, then (City) couldn’t believe their luck when they actually got a penalty.

“I don’t know how VAR could have done anything different in that situation.

“But you are asking for common sense. That’s the one thing that’s not common isn’t it? It was just a decision that maybe Kurt, when he sees it, will say he didn’t get that one quite right.”

In what would be little consolation for Victory, A-League boss Greg O’Rourke admitted Ams should not have awarded a foul. He revealed that FFA’s refereeing department had considered the contact on Fornaroli was insufficient to warrant awarding a free- kick.

O’Rourke also confirmed that Ams had the power to overturn his original decision but had not ­decided to do so because, during the review of the incident at the time, he was only looking at whether there had been contact inside or outside the box.

As for the game, Muscat was disappointed with the result but happy with the performance of the defending champions.

“I thought we were outstanding, total dominance, total control and we played some really attacking and exciting stuff,” he said. “We will only get better.”

City showed some great fight to bounce back after falling behind to a Honda header on 28 minutes.

There was luck in the aftermath of the penalty decision. The spot kick was initially saved by goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas, but the rebound fell to Ritchie De Laet who put the ball away to level the scores.

Victory had a number of great chances to regain the lead, with Kenny Athiu spurning a couple and James Troisi smashing a shot against a post.

But it was City who had the final say. Substitute Riley McGree, who had been on the field for just a few minutes, scored with his first touch to put City ahead with 20 minutes of the game left.