Anthony Gordon has come under heavy fire from Richard Keys for what he believes to be diving to win two crucial penalties against West Ham United.
After just four minutes, Newcastle United was given the first penalty after it was determined that Vladimir Coufal had fouled Gordon. Whether Konstantinos Mavropanos had purposefully played the ball to Gordon, who was initially in an offside position, was the subject of a protracted VAR review.
Controversy was raised by the second penalty, which was crucial to Newcastle’s comeback. David Moyes, the manager of the Hammers, maintained that Kalvin Phillips shouldn’t have been sent off because the loanee seemed to be trying to clear the ball when he brought Gordon down; Gordon was later shown a red card.
Referee Rob Jones gave the penalty again after consulting the pitchside monitor in spite of Moyes’s objections. Both of the spot kicks were successfully converted by Alexander Isak, who helped Newcastle pull off an incredible 4-3 victory.
But Keys, the former host of Sky Sports, vented his annoyance and charged Gordon with misleading the referees. He argued that Dan Burn ought to have been sent off for fouling Mohammed Kudus during stoppage time in the first half, emphasizing the obvious opportunity that Burn had been denied to score a goal.
Keys called the officials “howlers” for their callous decisions made during the game in a harsh blog post.
He questioned the rationale behind the second penalty, claiming that Gordon’s actions amounted to simulation. Keys emphasized the seriousness of the foul and the lack of an attempt to play the ball as he questioned why Burn was not given a red card for challenging Kudus.
His blog post said, “What a weekend it was for ref howlers.” “Remember, when isn’t it? Two times, in no specific order, Antony Gordon deceived Rob Jones. Alright, once.
The second mistake in VAR was the fault of the unfortunate David Coote. David, what did you observe to be “clear and obvious”? I observed modeling.
“Everyone who wasn’t rooting for Newcastle also did so. When Kudus was clearly through, why didn’t Jones send Dan Burn off for taking him out? It was an avowal. Burn didn’t even try to play ball. It was obviously red.
Keys’s comments highlight how tense the game was and how officials are scrutinized in high-stakes games. The incident sparked new discussion about the application of VAR and the difficulties in fairly deciding football disputes.
