‘Astonished’ - Controversial Wolves v Newcastle United VAR call slammed by ex-Liverpool defender and PL ref

With the game tied at 1-1, Hwang Hee-chan was adjudged to have fouled Fabian Schar at the edge of the area before Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot after a moment of consideration. A lengthy VAR check followed before the technology ruled that Taylor had made the correct call. 

Following the game, Gary O’Neil described the decision as ‘scandalous’ whilst Alan Shearer and Shay Given also agreed that their former club were fortunate to be awarded a penalty. Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher also questioned the decision to award the Magpies a penalty. 

Whilst Gallagher sympathised with Taylor’s initial decision to award a spot-kick, he admitted he was surprised that VAR didn’ intervene to overrule the call. Gallagher said: “Not a penalty for me. I can see why the referee gave it, I can fully understand why the referee gave it. 

“But when you look at it again, you only need to see one replay to see that it wasn’t a foul. The fact that it was looked at so many times, I just can’t see a foul.”

Karen Carney agreed with Gallagher in her assessment that a penalty shouldn’t have been awarded, branding the call as ‘one of the worst’ decisions from this weekend’s round of games. Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock went further in his criticism of the decision, slamming VAR for ‘regressing’ this season and revealing he was ‘astonished’ that the technology didn’t overturn the call.

Warnock said: “I’m completely losing faith with VAR and the decisions that are being made in recent weeks. It’s getting worse.

“Howard Webb was brought in to improve the situation and he came in all guns blazing saying that he was going to do things better and that there were going to be clear lines of communication on what was going to happen. It has regressed, it has gotten worse, it has not improved at all and it’s a worrying sign at the moment that VAR is getting to this point.

“How that has not been overturned is just astonishing.”

Although VAR came under scrutiny for that call, Gallagher believes the decision to award Newcastle’s opener after Wolves players called for a foul on Jose Sa, was the correct one. Gallagher ruled that Longstaff had not impeded Sa, saying: “I don’t think he is impeded.

“If he is impeded, he’s impeded by his own player. Certainly not a foul for me.”

Gallagher also explained that the decision to only show Jamaal Lascelles a yellow card after he tangled with Hwang Hee-chan was the correct call. Despite protests that Lascelles was denying a goalscoring opportunity, and thus should be shown a red card, Gallagher explained that there wasn’t enough in the incident to warrant a sending off.

“Criteria one is, is he in possession of the ball? No.” Gallagher said. “Can he immediately get the ball? Possibly but not definitely. So not an obvious goal scoring opportunity and so a yellow card.”