Newcastle United co-owner suggests VAR overhaul after what he witnessed against Brentford

A second half David Raya own goal and a fine strike from Alexander Isak saw Newcastle cancel out Ivan Toney’s first-half penalty and secure a fifth straight Premier League win. The match was dominated by several VAR decisions that worked both for and against Newcastle.

Toney had an early goal ruled out by VAR before a lengthy check saw Brentford awarded a penalty late in the first half which the former Magpies striker converted having missed an earlier spot-kick. Callum Wilson then saw a goal ruled out for handball but Newcastle were able to see out the 2-1 win.

The second Brentford penalty saw Isak’s high foot connect with Rico Henry inside the area. It was a contentious challenge that ultimately saw referee Chris Kavanagh go to the monitor and award The Bees a spot kick.

Magpies legend Alan Shearer hit out at the decision with some expletives on social media but co-owner Reuben was more measured in his response.

“Not specific about today - but it’s clear VAR whilst a positive addition takes too much time and varies to inconsistently from game to game,” he tweeted.

“Perhaps we should allow VAR officials to review the play only twice for maximum one minute. If they can’t derive an opinion from that then it’s unlikely to be a clear and obvious mistake and the on pitch decision should then be allowed to proceed.”