FANS were up in arms after Newcastle were awarded a controversial penalty against Tottenham.
Rodrigo Bentancur was judged to have manhandled Dan Burn in the box after a VAR review.
Anthony Gordon dispatched from 12 yards to put Newcastle back in front while many fans were still scratching their heads.
The general consensus was that there was simply not enough deliberate contact between the players to warrant a foul.
Bentancur did appear to have his arms around Burn as Bruno Guimaraes whipped his corner into the box.
But then 6ft 7in giant Burn continued to run right over his much smaller rival as the play developed – before falling on top of him.
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Referee Tom Bramall saw nothing wrong with the incident and waved play on.
But play was soon stopped as VAR Paul Tierney intervened and sent Bramall to the monitor – before the ref changed his mind.
Fans shared their shock at the decision with one saying: “Daylight robbery at St James Park. How is that a penalty? I hate Spurs but that’s a horrendous VAR call. Cheats!”
Another added: “This is NEVER a penalty. Tottenham were robbed.”
A third wrote: “That’s the worst decision I’ve ever seen in football that is vile Spurs have been robbed so badly.”
And another commented: “Never in a million years is that a pen.”
The Premier League Match Centre explained the decision on X, writing: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Newcastle United. Referee announcement: ‘After review, Tottenham number 30 makes a holding offence at the back post and clearly does not look at the ball. My final decision is penalty kick.’”
But Jamie Carragher agreed with the fans on Sky Sports coverage, pointing out that Bentancur was not trying to bring Burn down.
The Liverpool legend said: “I am surprised by that. This would be harsh.
“At the end, he is trying to get away from Burn.”
Rio Ferdinand agreed, tweeting: “Disgraceful decision to reward #NUFC penalty… whoever controlling the VAR should be ashamed and the ref then reviews and should be also. Well done Newcastle.”
Tottenham rallied despite the grievance with Cristian Romero netting a 95th-minute overhead kick.
The Spurs captain had notched his side’s first equaliser of the evening with a brilliant diving header after Bruno Guimaraes fired Newcastle in front in the 71st minute.
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