Newcastle United trounced Sheffield United 5-1 at St James’ Park on Saturday thanks to a fantastic second-half effort from the hosts.
Dermot Gallagher, a former Premier League referee, says referee Tony Harrington made the correct choice in awarding Newcastle United a penalty during their game against Sheffield United. The penalty, awarded just minutes after the Magpies took the lead through Bruno Guimaraes, came after Anthony Gordon was tripped on the edge of the area.
Harrington instantly pointed to the spot, and after a quick VAR examination to establish the incident had occurred in the area, the penalty was allowed to stand. Alexander Isak easily tucked it past Wes Foderingham, scoring his 19th goal of the season.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, Gallagher stated that, despite the fact that the first foul occurred outside the area, the technology correctly supported the referee’s decision to give the penalty. He explained, “There are actually two trips [on Gordon].” He catches him there [outside the box] and then again, and the second one is on the line or in the area, so he’s perfectly within his rights to award a penalty. I listened to the VAR, and they claimed there were two trips, one inside and one outside, but because he had a penalty, they went with the second one.”
VAR didn’t stop there, as they interfered in the dying moments to reverse Harrington’s decision to award the visitors a penalty. Despite having the ball before Jayden Bogle fell down under a challenge, Alex Murphy was penalized for the foul; however, a short check by the officials at Stockley Park prompted Harrington to review the judgment himself, which he then overturned.
Gallagher also praised VAR and how it was utilized at St James’ Park over the weekend, saying that the decision to overturn the spot-kick was correct: “It is [excellent use of VAR]. If you look closely, he clearly gets the ball, and then the guy falls over his leg. It was determined that he received the ball, played it, and hence committed no foul. Quite right.
