In a nutshell, there is expansion but not the exaggerated acceleration blamed on an unknown dark energy. I have also theorized that the inflation theory is primarily an illusion due to time dilation caused by mass and gravity.
Like an optical illusion, there are time illusions.
Enormous null voids contribute to the illusion. Similar to an atom or a bubble, the largest structures in the universe are empty.
These illusions are enticing, but like early Copernican thought that the Earth was the center of the universe, it is a trick of our mind's perspective.