Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes Newcastle United should have been awarded a penalty against Chelsea following Trevoh Chalobah's challenge on Jacob Murphy. Gallagher believes VAR were presented with the 'caveat' to overturn David Coote's on-field decision due to the award of the corner kick, with the Blues defender making no contact with the ball.
Eddie Howe made four changes to his Newcastle starting lineup and changed formation as a result of late illnesses to Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock. It was a resolute display from the visitors that was undone by a clinical late finish from Kai Havertz, bringing to an end their nine-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
However, Howe was left frustated by two contentious VAR decisions which against his side, describing the challenge on Murphy as a 'stonewall' penalty. Gallagher agreed United should have been awarded a spot-kick with the match goalless at this stage.
He told Sky Sports News: "He grabs his shirt, trips him, shoves him. Their feeling was the fall wasn't commensurate with what happened on the field.
"I think that's possibly because they looked at the upper body rather than the lower body. There's a caveat where the VAR could have said watch this, the referee gives a corner.
"Chalobah doesn't play the ball, it should have been a goal kick or a penalty. So when the referee says I've given the corner, he's telling everyone I think Chalobah has played the ball.
"Therefore, I feel the VAR could have said to the referee he didn't play the ball, you might want to have a look at this. If he had gone and had a look and seen what we've seen, he would have given the penalty."
Newcastle's sense of injustice was then heightened when Havertz netted the late winner, having only been shown a yellow card for elbowing Dan Burn during a first-half aerial duel. On this occasion, Gallagher agreed with Cootes' and the VAR verdict.
He explained: "I agree for a number of reasons. If you look at it, both players' arms are up, they're both challenging for the ball and going towards each other.
"There is inevitably going to be a collision, there is no doubt about that. The key for me when I was taught as a referee is when someone throws an elbow in malice, they are going to clench the fist and force impact. If you look at Kai Havertz, he never clenches his fist.
"It is almost a flailing arm and it does catch him. I think it's a yellow card. I didn't think as a foul it was that bad.
"It's a reckless challenge that's caught him, there's no doubt about that. But it's not a bruising challenge, it's not a malicious challenge, it's not what I call serious foul play. He hasn't thrown the elbow as a weapon."
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