Aberdeen hosted Dundee in the Dons’ final game before the Premiership split.
The visitors arrived with plenty to play for at Pittodrie, which would surely set up an entertaining showdown.
The referee was Nick Walsh, who was assisted on VAR by Euan Anderson.
The 0-0 scoreline wasn’t a true reflection on a game which contained plenty of action and talking points.
Both teams had numerous chances to win the game, but they both lacked that final touch.
The referee was also kept busy throughout the match with plenty of cautions dished out.
Two of these cautions came the way of Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie. Already suspended for the cup semi-final against Celtic on Saturday, he will also sit out the next league game.
Red card was correct call for Aberdeen v Dundee referee
His first yellow was for a cynical foul on the halfway line. Aberdeen should have had a foul on Duk just moments before the foul.
He was tugged back and then lost the ball, I felt the referee should have pulled it back for the original tug as there wasn’t much of an advantage.
Shinnie deserved to be booked although I’m actually not entirely sure he was going to be booked until he began arguing with Dundee manager Tony Docherty.
The former Aberdeen assistant manager was also booked for his troubles, as the two went head to head in a war of words but Shinnie didn’t need to get involved.
His second caution is a moment of pure frustration, it’s a clear yellow card.
He’s nowhere near the ball, it’s a dangerous challenge, on another day a little bit more contact on his man and that’s a straight red.
I don’t understand why he made that challenge, but the referee was spot on in sending him off.
Should Dundee goal have stood?
The other big call in the game came in the form of a disallowed Dundee goal. A scramble in the box was fired in by former Don Curtis Main.
His celebrations were short-lived as the flag was raised for an offside in the build up. Amadou Bakayoko was clearly offside, I was amazed how long it took VAR to confirm the decision.
There can definitely be some debate if Angus MacDonald deliberately played the ball, but I think the positioning of the Dundee player means an offside would be called in any case.
I also think the header from MacDonald should be classified as a deflection, meaning the offside decision is right.
The correct on-field decision was confirmed but the time it took was ridiculous. There was a clear ‘END VAR’ sign displayed before the match by the Aberdeen fans.
This was a clear example of VAR taking far too long to give a clear decision, what were they actually checking for?
It shouldn’t take three or four minutes to get that decision confirmed.
There is certainly growing unrest regarding the use of VAR in Scotland.
