As Newcastle United lost to Manchester United last night, Anthony Gordon criticized the decision not to give him a penalty. He also questioned the purpose of video assistant refereeing if a crucial incident like this could be wrongly called.
The Magpies’ chances of making it to Europe were severely damaged in their 3-2 loss at Old Trafford; however, if Gordon had been challenged by Casemiro and Sofyan Amrabat when they were trailing 1-0 at the end of the first half, things might have turned out differently.
Amrabat had already clipped the ankle of the Newcastle winger before his teammate made any contact, even though Casemiro had the ball when he challenged Gordon in the area.
Referee Robert Jones missed the incident, and the on-field official was not told to go to his pitch-side screen while VAR Peter Bankes reviewed it.
Gordon, who gave Newcastle their equalizer early in the second half, admitted that his injury was still quite painful. However, goals from Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund later on proved to be the game-winning goals. “I haven’t seen the incident back, so I’m not sure how my ankle will hold up, but it’s definitely a penalty.”
Since things move quickly on the pitch, I don’t mind if the referee makes a mistake. However, given that VAR is meant to rectify errors, I fail to see its purpose.
“Amrabat pushes me in the back and goes down my Achilles. There were two fouls prior to Casemiro coming to retrieve the ball. To be honest, I don’t see the purpose behind it.
Strangely, the incident happened just hours after Wolves made a move to remove VAR for the upcoming campaign.
At a Premier League board meeting in Harrogate on June 6, Wolves will present their case for a vote on the use of video assistant technology (VAR). A two-thirds majority, or 14 of the 20 clubs, would be required to vote in favor of any rule change for it to be approved.
“Actually, I really like VAR,” Gordon remarked. “Or at the very least, I like the concept. It ought to be something the league can use. However, it’s not. There are far too many errors all the time.
“We can’t put the blame on anyone else; we’ve missed too many opportunities, but the game would have changed if a penalty had been given.” I’m not sure how you could possibly make such a glaringly obvious and evident error. Therefore, either get well or get rid of it. It’s really easy.
Eddie Howe, the head coach of Newcastle, opposed VAR before it was implemented in 2019. The technology was brought in to assist on-field officials with crucial match decisions, but a string of contentious calls this season in particular have damaged confidence in the system and the way the Premier League is currently using it.
Howe recalled, “At the time, I was watching the incident involving Gordon and trying to figure out what had happened and why Anthony had fallen.” I reasoned that there had to be a cause.
“I couldn’t see it for the first few views, but after that, you could see the contact and it was a stonewall penalty. It is the responsibility of VAR, so I’m not sure how it hasn’t gotten involved.
“I’m the same as I’ve always been on VAR. Even though the referee misses penalties like these, I still like having power over the game. In my opinion, yes, with offsides. However, return authority to the referees.
