How the Premier League table would look if VAR was used correctly with Man Utd, City and Tottenham cheated out of points
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MANCHESTER UNITED, City and Tottenham are just a few of the teams hard done by with VAR decisions this season.
While the video replay system has cleared up doubt with a number of key decisions, the pendulum has violently swung between pernickety fiddling on minor infringements and blasé shrugs at clear fouls.
Stonewall penalties such as Jamal Lascelles' cleverly disguised pull down on Harry Kane should have been caught by the slow-motion review, which has preferred to crack the whip on attackers flicking the ball as it pings across the box.
Offsides are now measured by the millimetre to ensure a very exact level of fairness - hard to argue with in theory but a little tedious in the heat of the moment.
VAR OVERTURNS
- West Ham v Man City: Jesus goal disallowed, Aguero missed penalty retaken and scored
Score without VAR: 0-5 - Leicester v Wolves: Dendoncker goal disallowed
Score without VAR: 0-1 - Brighton v West Ham: Trossard goal disallowed
Score without VAR: 2-1 - Man City v Spurs: Jesus goal disallowed
Score without VAR: 3-2 - Norwich v Chelsea: Zouma goal disallowed
Score without VAR: 2-4
The most momentous decision in the opening four weeks saw Manchester City have a late winner over Spurs ruled out because of Aymeric Laporte's acute handball.
Brighton and Wolves have also had winning goals taken off them, while strikes to make victories more comfortable were stripped off City and Chelsea.
But it is the unfairly missed decisions that are most galling.
The 'clear and obvious' error rule with penalty fouls is being interpreted with incredibly high standards.
MISSED VAR OVERRULES
- Man City v Spurs: Lamela concedes penalty for Rodri foul
Adjusted score: 3-2 - Norwich v Chelsea: Stiepermann foul on Azpilicueta is a penalty
Adjusted score: 2-4 - Man Utd v C Palace: Martial hauled down by Kelly in box
Adjusted score: 2-2 - Bournemouth v Man City: Lerma clear foul on Silva
Adjusted score: 2-4 - Spurs v Newcastle: Lascelles brings down Kane in box
Adjusted score: 1-1 - West Ham v Norwich: Clear foul on Haller in the box
Adjusted score: 3-0 - Newcastle v Watford: Handball in lead-up to Newcastle equaliser missed by VAR
Adjusted score: 0-1
Erik Lamela has been allowed to grab Rodri by the neck as a corner came in and Martin Kelly able to manhandle Anthony Martial as he aimed to shoot.
Such was the ferocity of the foul on City midfielder Rodri, Pep Guardiola remarked that VAR had "gone for a coffee" at that point of the 2-2 draw.
But the boot was on the other foot as Spurs' equalising penalty versus Newcastle went by the wayside, showing that perhaps VAR luck will equal itself out over the season - just as we have always told ourselves regular decisions do.
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Something must soon be about to come back and bite the Magpies then, as Isaac Hayden's handball before the leveller versus Watford was missed due to "human error".
It shows how a major flaw with VAR isn't so much the fact we have replays but the fact humans are still in charge of them.
The system still needs to develop and is certainly not going to go away - let's just hope there is a plan to fix the kinks rather than simply being told to live with them.
