How controversial VAR calls have defined two title battles

There were some clear differences in approach.

Darren England, the VAR for the Arsenal game, spent two minutes 41 seconds poring over every angle of the footage, checking the possible foul, and potential penalties.

That length of time made sense, as there were multiple incidents to check.

Once at the monitor, referee Chris Kavanagh was there for one minute 15 seconds and watched 17 different replays.

In total, the review lasted four minutes 11 seconds.

It was markedly quicker at Fir Park, though there was only one thing to review.

The Celtic game was stopped for one minute 25 seconds while the VAR, Andrew Dallas, carried out a penalty check.

But once referee John Beaton went to the pitchside monitor, he was there for only 20 seconds and watched just two replays.

Dallas also rocked-and-rolled the frames, presenting this as clear proof that the ball had hit the Motherwell midfielder’s hand.

It was two minutes four seconds from the potential handball to the spot-kick being awarded – half the time of the contentious decision at the London Stadium.

VARs in Scottish football are hindered by one key factor: resources.

In England, a minimum of 28 cameras, though often more, are available to the VAR at each ground.

But up in Scotland, most games have a minimum of just six cameras, going up to 12 for the fixtures selected for live television broadcast.

That the VAR was only able to present one camera angle to the referee highlighted the limitations. Beaton was only shown what everybody at home had watched on television.

It should be remembered that referees must have a level of trust that in the VAR, that when they get to the screen it is only because they have made a clear error.

It is why, at all levels, there are only a handful of times each season that a referee sticks with their own decision.

It is why the VAR is the real arbiter.

So regardless of whether the ball does actually touch Nicholson’s hand, it was a bold move for the VAR to determine he had definitive evidence.

“VAR was introduced to, in Fifa’s terminology, not to look for pebbles but look for boulders,” former Scottish Premiership referee Bobby Madden told 5 Live.

“Last night isn’t a pebble, it is not even a grain of sand. It goes against the whole ethos of why VAR was introduced.”

Perhaps it says a lot that fans found it necessary to create and share fake images on social media as supposed definitive proof.