Premier League issue official statements after controversial Newcastle United & Everton incidents

The first half of the match saw two major VAR decisions be made that overturned the on-field calls. The first came after 18 minutes as Abdoulaye Doucoure thought he’d headed Everton in front only for VAR to intervene and overturn the on-field decision to award the goal.

Explaining the decision, the Premier League quickly issued a message via its Match Centre account on X. It read: “18’ VAR OVERTURN: Doucouré’s goal was awarded on-field. The VAR checked for a potential offside against Doucouré and recommended that the goal was disallowed.”

And just after the half hour mark, VAR pulled play back and prompted referee Craig Pawson to check the monitor after Sandro Tonali was pulled down inside the penalty area by James Tarkowski. After a quick check, Pawson pointed to the spot to award Newcastle a penalty for the third successive match.

Explaining that decision, the Premier League Match Centre stated: “31’ VAR OVERTURN: The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge by Tarkowski on Tonali is checked by VAR, who recommended an on-field review deeming that this was a non-footballing action. The referee then awarded a penalty to Newcastle United.”

Anthony Gordon stepped up to take the penalty against his former club but was denied by Jordan Pickford as the scoreline remained 0-0.

Everton had a penalty shout turned down by Pawson in the second half after Dominic Calvert-Lewin went down inside the area under a challenge from Dan Burn but VAR refrained from intervening on that occasion.

The Premier League match centre posted: “The referee’s call of no penalty for the challenge between Calvert-Lewin and Burn is checked and confirmed by VAR - deeming that Calvert-Lewin kicked the back of Burn’s leg.”

It was a frustrating match for both sides as they had to settle for a point. For Newcastle it’s three games without a win in the Premier League but only one defeat in their first seven games of the new campaign heading into the second international break.

Next up for The Magpies is a home match against Brighton & Hove Albion in a fortnight’s time.