Fernando Llorente hat-trick sends Tottenham into FA Cup quarter-finals but VAR chaos steals the show

Tottenham 6 Rochdale 1: On a farcical night at Wembley it was the referee's confusing use of his Video Assistant Referee which will live longest in the memory

Fernando Llorente celebrates his second goal of the night (Getty Images)

If there was a defining image of this ridiculous evening, it was the sight of referee Paul Tierney standing still with his left hand raised quizzically to his ear, as the snow fell lightly atop his head. The fifth round of the FA Cup has never seen a match as farcical as this. In the end, Spurs cruised past Rochdale 6-1 to set up a quarter-final against Swansea, but it will be the confusion caused by VAR, rather than the events on the pitch, which will live on in the memory.

This gets complicated, so here are the facts. Six legitimate Tottenham goals, two disallowed — one correctly and one incorrectly. Two Tottenham penalty appeals, one harshly given by VAR and one harshly ignored. And if that wasn’t strange enough, a 12-minute hat-trick from Fernando Llorente, who had managed two goals in his previous 26 matches.

It was a harsh end for Rochdale, who had performed so valiantly in the first tie and whose fans deserved better than this. But their struggling team can have few complaints. Unlike Tottenham, who were on the wrong end of a succession of nonsensical VAR decisions which left those fans committed enough to brave the elements without a clue what was going on. Ultimately, this game was a sign that video technology has a long, long way to go before it can be reliably rolled out across the sport.

The chaos started after just six minutes. Son burst forward and drove the ball across the face of goal, with Josh Lillis succeeding only in parrying it into the path of the looming Llorente. He tangled with Harrison McGahey and appeared to fall over the ball, with Erik Lamela on hand to poke the rebound home and give Spurs the lead.

Fernando Llorente opens the scoring at a snowy Wembley (Getty Images)

Only he hadn’t. In a sign of what was to come, Tierney’s left hand was slowly lifted to his ear, before the game was paused for two minutes as the VAR set to work. A half-empty, half-frozen Wembley held its breath, with Tierney eventually disallowing the effort and awarding a free-kick. It was a baffling decision. Worse were to come.

VAR was back at it mere minutes later. This time Lucas Moura was the one to dart into the box, going down under pressure from the the struggling McGahey. Tierney initially waved away the credible appeal with a shake of the head, only for play to suddenly stop with the ball by now up the other end of the pitch. The replays — which showed the Brazilian was blocked off — were consulted. The penalty wasn’t given.

It was arguably much more of a penalty than the one awarded to Spurs by VAR five minutes later. But first Tottenham’s opening goal, a fine strike from the edge of the box by Son. Played in by Lamela, Son stood up Joe Rafferty and curled the ball into the far corner. There could be no complaints with the strike — not even from Tierney.

Fernando Llorente and Erik Lamela celebrate Spurs' second goal (AFP/Getty Images)

But there could with Tottenham’s spot-kick. Kieran Trippier was pulled down by Matt Done a fraction inside the box, although the contact appeared to be initiated a few inches before. First Tierney awarded the free-kick. Then VAR awarded the penalty. And then finally Tierney disallowed the goal: Son was ruled to have stopped during his run-up moments before rolling the ball past Lillis. He was shown a yellow card and a second Spurs goal had been chalked off.

The Spurs fans who could still feel their fingers were now aiming one in particular at the hapless referee. But worse was to come, as Rochdale took full advantage of the rising indignity by levelling the score. Stephen Humphrys did superbly well to control Andrew Cannon’s ball over the top, gliding past Juan Foyth and stroking the ball beyond Michel Vorm. And they should have scored a second before half-time, only for a powerful Cannon strike to crack off the crossbar.

If the first-half was farcical, the second was decidedly formulaic. It didn’t take Spurs long to make Cannon pay, as Llorente set about hitting a lightening quick hat-trick. His first goal was his best: a delicate chip over Lillis having been played through by Lucas, within two minutes of the restart. And the duo reunited minutes later, with the Spaniard tapping home his new team-mate’s inch-perfect cut back.

Spurs ended up routing Rochdale 6-1 (AFP/Getty Images)

He wasn’t done there, and Llorente completed his first hat-trick in Spurs colours when he nodded home Son’s cross, which looped over Lillis and presented the striker with the simplest of headed finishes. Son then grabbed his second with a similarly routine finish, after Lamela dissected Rochdale’s tiring defence with a sublime slide-rule pass.

The Argentinian almost made up for his disallowed effort earlier in the night when his well-hit free-kick flew past Lillis, only to hit the post. But the sixth goal was to come. On as a late substitute, Kyle Walker-Peters scored his first ever goal for the club, exchanging neat passes with Dele Alli and rolling the ball into the net. A conventional end to an utterly confusing night.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Vorm; Trippier, Foyth, Dier, Rose; Sissoko, Winks; Lucas Moura, Lamela, Son; Llorente. Subs: Sanchez, Kane, Dembele, Alli, Gazzaniga, Eriksen, Walker-Peters.

Rochdale (5-3-2): Lillis; Rafferty, McGahey, McNulty, Delaney, Done; Cannon, Kitching, Camps; Humphrys, Henderson. Subs: Ntlhe, Rathbone, Thompson, Inman, Davies, Moore, Adshead.