Premier League admin error as statement issued after Newcastle United vs Brighton controversy
VAR took centre stage during Newcastle United’s dramatic 1-1 draw away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
Yankuba Minteh scored against his former club to give Brighton the lead in the 28th minute before Newcastle were awarded three second-half penalties, the third of which was scored by Alexander Isak late on.
Referee Craig Pawson first pointed to the spot when Anthony Gordon was fouled by Tariq Lamptey, however it was overturned by VAR after replays showed the contact took place outside of the box. Lightening then struck twice when Joe Willock won a penalty, only to be booked for simulation after Pawson reviewed the incident at the pitch-side monitor.
But it proved to be third time lucky when Fabian Schar’s free-kick hit the hand of Brighton defender Yasin Ayari. Isak kept his cool from the spot to earn Newcastle a point which keeps their Champions League qualification fate in their own hands.
Premier League explain three penalty calls – admin error
Incident one: “57’ VAR OVERTURN VAR checked the referee’s call of penalty for the challenge by Lamptey on Gordon and recommended that play restarted with a Newcastle free kick as the contact was outside the penalty area.”
Incident two: “70’ VAR OVERTURN VAR checked the referee’s call of penalty for the challenge by van Hecke on Willock and recommended an on-field review – with this deemed to be minimal contact and not sufficient for a penalty. Upon review, the referee awarded an indirect free kick to Brighton and issued a yellow card to Willock for simulation.”
Incident three: “The referee’s call of penalty was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the action by Estupiñán deemed to be a handball offence.”
The above is admin error, as it was Ayari who was penalised for the handball, not Pervis Estupinan.
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe on the three penalty decisions
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe agreed with all three penalty decisions and praised his players for keeping their composure to come away with a valuable point.
Howe said: “I think keeping our composure in those moments because it’s not easy and also making sure our performance wasn’t affected negatively by the outcomes of the decisions.
