That time-honoured phrase, the Magic of the Cup, resonated again in the mouths of Stevenage fans after their fourth-tier side had produced two goals in the final two minutes to win 2-1 at Premier League Aston Villa.

The Logic of the Cup also became a huge talking point - because on this occasion it was flawed logic.

Wolves had a late goal at Liverpool controversially disallowed by the assistant referee for offside - and the VAR system installed at Anfield was unable to rule the decision in or out as it only offered one camera view of the incident.

So the game ended in a 2-2 draw and even lifelong Liverpool fans were saying on social media that their team had had a lucky escape.

The worst part of the late drama at Anfield was the fact that it stilled joyous celebrations on the part of the Wolves players and travelling fans.

The stark reality of VAR technology means that, other than in the most obvious of cases, any spontaneous goal celebrations need to be checked, all emotions need to be put on hold, until technological confirmation is bestowed upon the moment.

Another goal celebration was stifled over the weekend after Said Benrahma scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game for West Ham United at Brentford.

It was a spectacular effort, thumped home from well outside the penalty area, and it earned West Ham - who are fourth-bottom in the Premier League - their first win in seven games.

But Benrahma’s reaction was strictly neutral - because Brentford were his previous team.

The West London club signed him on a four-year contract in 2018 from Nice, with whom he had spent an unsettled time struggling with injuries and being loaned out to smaller French clubs.

After outstanding performances for Brentford, he joined West Ham on loan in October 2020 and the £25 million ($30million/€28.5million) transfer was made permanent in January 2021.

Benrahma thus became the latest footballer to pay obeisance to this respectful gesture to former employers.

In a game that has become super-commercialised, such behaviour remains as an unregulated feature. 

There is no rule about it and there never will be. 

It is, in large part, a matter of etiquette, in the same way that teams will return possession to their opponents if they have had to kick the ball out because one of their teammates had been injured and required treatment.

In fact, this also holds true in other circumstances. 

Unless my eyes deceived me, although the TV commentator did not deign to halt his smartly confected chat to mention it, the France versus England World Cup quarter-final last month began with a ball that very soon became defective and was booted off the pitch by an England player.

From the throw-in, with a properly inflated new ball, France gave possession back to their opponents. A matter of etiquette; of honour. Simple.

But when that unwritten code is not obeyed - not so simple.

Wavy lines, and we’re back watching a 1999 FA Cup fifth-round tie between Arsenal and Sheffield United. 

A United player, seeing one of his teammates was injured, hoofed the ball into touch so the trainer could come on. 

But when Arsenal took the throw it went to one of their own players, Nigerian international, Kanu, who then compounded the outrage already forming among United’s players and supporters by running down the wing and crossing for Marc Overmars to score the winning goal.

Such was the furore that Arsenal’s manager, Arsène Wenger, offered Sheffield United a replay, purely on the basis of this travesty of convention. 

That offer was taken up 10 days later and although the result ended up exactly the same - Arsenal 2, Sheffield United 1 - it demonstrated something profoundly important.

The decision not to celebrate a goal is similarly important, even though it has been criticised in some cases as an empty gesture. 

Some fans have even suggested that it is essentially a defensive gesture to avoid incurring the wrath of supporters from a previous club, a wrath that would be made manifest - swiftly, unpleasantly and persistently - on social media.

Nobody can objectively judge whether this action - or rather, inaction - is prompted by genuine feelings of respect or merely a form of lip service. 

What we do see is that it is, and has been, a feature of the game for many decades.

The classic example in this genre is the reaction of Denis Law after he had backheeled home what proved to be the winning goal for Manchester City in the 81st minute of their final match of the 1973-74 season against his previous club, Manchester United - who were, calamitously, relegated from Division 1.

Law, who had achieved legendary status in the 11 years he had spent at Old Trafford, looked mournful as his team-mates cavorted around him and walked off with bowed head when substituted shortly afterwards.

Whether he thought that goal had meant relegation for his old club was unclear, but in fact it had no bearing on the matter because results elsewhere on that day meant United would have gone down whatever their result had been.

Since then, muted goal celebrations have become a regular feature in the game.

Jose Torres for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid; Frank Lampard for Manchester City against Chelsea - "Jose Mourinho has been hurt here by a Chelsea legend" the commentator intoned; Ronaldo for Real Madrid against Manchester United; Kylian Mbappe for PSG against Monaco; Mohammed Salah for Liverpool against Roma; Jesse Lingard for Manchester United against West Ham; Robin van Persie for Manchester United against Arsenal, and then for Fenerbahce against Manchester United…the list of non-celebration goes on…

Due deference to a former club is the main reason for this neutrality - but not the only one.

In 2019, when Gareth Bale scored for Real Madrid against Levante, he deliberately chose not to celebrate the goal with his team-mates to make clear his unhappiness with the club.

At the Euro 2020 tournament, there was a more selfless reason for non-celebration as Finland’s Joel Pohjanpalo, after scoring against Denmark, demonstrated his respect and solidarity with the opposing midfielder Christian Eriksen, who had collapsed earlier in the game with a cardiac arrest.

The non-celebration can also have political connotations. 

Iranian footballers this season have refused to salute their own goals in league matches, lowering their hands when the ball crosses the line, to show solidarity with a wave of anti-Government demonstrations over women's rights that have followed the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody last September.

Not wanting to crow over a previous team, however, remains the main basis for this mark of respect.

That said, there is always an exception that proves the rule.

On July 18 2009, Togo international striker Emmanuel Adebayor moved from Arsenal to Manchester City in a £30 million ($36.5million/€34 million) transfer.

In his fourth match for City, at home to Arsenal, Adebayor ran almost the full length of the pitch after scoring in order to celebrate wildly in front of the visiting fans.

Additionally, there were complaints against him from three of his former team-mates. 

His old striking partner Robin van Persie accused him of deliberately kicking him in the face; his close friend Alex Song, from Cameroon, said Adebayor had slapped him in the face during the match, which City won 4-2; and Cesc Fabregas alleged that Adebayor had tried to stamp on him.

The hyped-up forward was booked for his goal celebration, and later apologised. 

Manchester City’s manager Mark Hughes - no stranger himself to rushes of blood to the head - suggested that Adebayor’s actions had been driven by a desire to "be loved by City fans."

Who knows? Perhaps it worked.