Aston Villa's Oerjan Nyland saves inside the net during the English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United at Villa Park in Birmingham. Photo / AP
The English Premier League is back. Goals are not.
The Premier League, the richest football league in the world with massive worldwide viewership, was suspended on March 13 after Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tested positive.
The league resumed today with Aston Villa hosting Sheffield United in what turned out to be a 0-0 draw.
Cameron McMillan offers a few thoughts on the highly anticipated return of live sport in England.
With no fans allowed in the ground it was up to fake crowd noise to provide the atmosphere, as typically the journalists sitting spaced-out in the stands weren't up to the task. The fake crowd took a while to get used to. At times the oohing and ahhing seemed to be out of sync with what was happening on the pitch.
Both teams had "Black Lives Matter" adorned on their back where player names usually are. Both the Villa and Sheffield players along with match officials all took a knee in solidarity before kickoff.
The coverage cut to Zoom broadcasts of fans from either team reacting to key moments. It wasn't that successful, however. Some fans were animated while others seemed stone-faced as if their TV was showing a Scandanavian crime drama instead, which may have actually been true based on the lack of chances in this game.
The defining moment of the match was a VAR shocker. A Sheffield United free kick swung awkwardly towards Aston Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland who was then bumped into his own goal by a teammate. Sheffield United players celebrated and turned towards referee Michael Oliver who looked at his watch awaiting VAR confirmation that didn't come. Replays showed the ball was clearly carried over the line.
Even with a stoppage shortly after the "save", that could have provided time to change the decision upstairs, it never happened. Commentators after halftime said that VAR didn't work because the way Nyland held the ball blocked the camera. A later statement said he "occluded" the view of VAR's seven cameras. Despite the fact every viewer could see it was a goal, it wasn't awarded. Somehow this still can happen.
