Sports
Rio Ferdinand Rages at ‘Disgraceful’ VAR Decision in Newcastle vs Tottenham
Rio Ferdinand has branded the VAR as a ‘disgrace’ after a controversial decision in the clash between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
The two sides clashed at St James’ Park in a highly-anticipated game and saw Bruno Guimaraes open the scoring in the second half with a fine strike from the edge of the box, before Cristian Romero headed home an equaliser.
But Newcastle were handed a huge chance to take the lead late on when the referee awarded a penalty after a tussle between Dan Burn and Rodrigo Bentancur, which was only given after a VAR review on the field. Anthony Gordon tucked the penalty away, before Romero scored a stunning second equaliser with a bicycle kick in injury time to see the points shared.
Ferdinand: Penalty Decision ‘Disgraceful’
The decision to award the penalty baffled many fans online, with most believing that the incident was as much a foul by Burn on Bentancur as it was the other way around.
And former Man Utd star Ferdinand reacted on his personal X account immediately after the incident, describing the decision as ‘disgraceful’ and saying VAR should be ‘ashamed’.
Disgraceful decision to reward Newcastle [with a] penalty. Whoever [is] controlling the VAR should be ashamed and the ref then reviews and should be also.
Plenty believed that justice was done with Romero’s second equaliser in injury time, and the Premier League released a statement explaining the situation before full-time.
Baffling Penalty Decision by Referee
VAR is always seemingly a talking point after big games in the Premier League, but it seems as though referees are looking to put themselves in the headlines whenever they get the opportunity with situations like these.
It was clear to all that Bentancur was holding Burn and not looking at the ball, but he was also clearly unable to let go because Burn had him in a front headlock, and the sensible decision would have been to let the game continue since the ball got nowhere near them anyway.
Instead, Newcastle were handed a big chance to take all three points and with Thomas Frank under major pressure, it could have been a huge moment in the season but for Romero’s stunning acrobatics.
Ferdinand is spot on in his assessment of the situation, and everyone not associated with Newcastle will feel as though justice was served.
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