Premier League issue official statement following major Newcastle United decision at Wolves

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Newcastle United were denied a penalty during the second half of Sunday’s match at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Magpies were trailing 1-0 to Mario Lemina’s opener when the visiting players appealed for handball against Wolves defender Craig Dawson. The ball appeared to hit Dawson’s arm and was checked by VAR but quickly waved away by referee Chris Kavanagh, who made the on-field decision not to award a penalty.

Following the incident, the Premier League’s new ‘match centre’ account posted a short statement explaining the decision.

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It read: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the potential handball by Dawson is checked and confirmed by VAR - deeming that it ricocheted off his own body and that his arm was in a natural position.”

Newcastle against Wolves is a fixture that has often featured some VAR controversy in recent seasons with The Magpies awarded a penalty, Wolves denied a goal and Fabian Schar avoiding a red card following checks. But on this occasion, the decision not to award a penalty was quickly and clearly explained with Dawson’s arm deemed to be in a natural position despite hitting his arm.

But that wouldn’t be Dawson’s last involvement in the match as Newcastle did draw level in the closing stages with Fabian Schar’s strike from distance deflecting in off the Wolves defender. Harvey Barnes then turned the game around completely with another strike from the edge of the box to make it 2-1 and secure victory for Newcastle.

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