Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier ‘couldn’t believe’ what he saw v Fulham amid VAR confusion

With the score 0-0, a VAR check penalised Trippier for fouling Fulham’s Bobby Decordova-Reid inside the penalty area. Former Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic stepped up but slipped, hitting the ball off his standing foot on the way to finding the net.

Given the illegal spot-kick, United were awarded a free-kick as Mitrovic’s goal was ruled out. And in the 89th minute, Newcastle snatched a winner as Alexander Isak popped up to nod in from Callum Wilson’s ball across goal.

The win takes The Magpies back up to third in the Premier League table as they extended their unbeaten run in the top flight to 14 games.

“We knew it was always going to be a difficult game because Fulham are on a very good run but we showed great togetherness, we didn’t panic in moments," Trippier said. “Games like this, people think ‘is it going to go our way?’ But we stuck to the basics and Alex has worked extremely hard to get back on the pitch and we’re delighted to see him back.”

Trippier went on to express his confusion over the penalty incident as he showed a clear mark on the top of his foot where Decordova-Reid had stamped on him prior to going down. Moments earlier, Dan Burn pulled down Andreas Pereira inside the area.

“It did [take a long time to reach a decision], and I’ve seen a photo but I thought the penalty was given for [Dan Burn’s] one,” the England right-back added. “When it happened before, I thought ‘oh it’s going to be a penalty here’ and when the referee said me, I couldn’t remember going in for a tackle.

"All I can remember is Reid standing on top of my foot. I’ve got a massive cut so that’s what I remember so I couldn’t believe that I gave the penalty away.

"I’ve not seen the video back but that’s football, the referee made his decision and you’ve just got to carry on.

“We just need to take it a game at a time, we know the position we’re in but we need to keep our feet on the ground.”