Overview
- Newcastle beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park to reach the fifth round, yet the match was dominated by officiating controversy.
- Referee Chris Kavanagh awarded a free-kick for Lucas Digne’s handball that replays showed occurred inside the penalty area, and Tammy Abraham’s earlier opener appeared offside.
- Digne avoided a red card for a high challenge on Jacob Murphy, while Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot was correctly sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
- With VAR not used until the fifth round, none of the contentious calls could be reviewed, placing focus on the FA Cup’s current technology policy.
- Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney condemned the decisions, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett said Digne should have been sent off, and managers Eddie Howe and Unai Emery argued the episode exposed over-reliance on VAR and the need for support, though no official changes were announced.