Diego Costa's Strike Puts Spain on Track

One goal has had quite the say in this year's World Cup.

One per game, that is.

Throughout the first nine days of group stage play, only 6 of 23 games have been decided by more than one goal.

This infers that the effect of Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) evidence on referee decisions is huge and, likely, here to stay.

 

Generally speaking, VAR results have been accepted with little dissent.

Iran, though, begs to differ. Because they lost. The decision, and thus, the match.

Team Melli -- Persian for national team -- hooked up with Spain in Kazan that had major implications for both of them. Odds were strong that the losing side was gonna be sent packing.

 

Right now, it doesn't bode well for Iran. The Spaniards' Diego Costa scored the lone-goal winner in the second half.

The first 45 minutes seemed to be a football version of Groundhog Day. In this case, it featured a repetitive loop where the Spanish dominated offensively against a stubbornly defensive Iran, although both had a few chances.

 

Fernando Hierro's crew created worthy chances, led by David Silva and an inspired Isco, who took all the responsibility for commanding the Spanish midfield.

It made for an entertaining standoff.

As time slipped away, Iran seemed satisfied with a draw, as it'd put them on the lead of the Group alongside Portugal.

Playing passively rarely pays at this level, though.

The 53rd minute found a Spanish attack bear fruit. Diego Costa received the ball inside the box and struck for the finish. Dude got what he wanted but with a slight detour.

His shot deflected off Ramin Rezaeian's leg, caromed to Costa's knee, and ended up in the net. 0-1:

This turned the Iranians into pursuers, and they almost got there.

In the 64th minute, Saeid Ezatolahi found himself up close and personal with David de Gea and scored what he and his mates believed was the equalizer. But the VAR said no.

 

Team Melli was steamed, but this one looked fairly obvious.

However, the day may be coming when VAR offside calls go the way of the National Hockey League and their equivalents in baseball and gridiron football, where what seems to be molecular technology has taken over.

Take a look at where hockey is now and where football will ultimately be:

 

Razor's edge.

So is the Group B table with three sides still in the hunt for a bracket spot:

The superscript-a denotes ranking via fair play points, just in case a tiebreaker is necessary and it gets that far. Right now, Spain's on -1 and Portugal is -2.

Razor thin.