Newcastle robbed? - Howe reacts to VAR surprise and Liverpool's lucky escape
Last night's 3-3 draw at home to Liverpool was a Premier League classic, but it did feature three controversial decisions from VAR and on-field referee Andy Madley.
Virgil van Dijk was not punished for smashing into Anthony Gordon moments after his first-half one-vs-one and Jarell Quansah's second-half trip on Alexander Isak was waved away by VAR. But it got worse.
After a minimum of five added minutes was followed by a VAR check for a potential Liverpool penalty and a delay of well over a minute for a stoppage-time free- Isak eventually fired over, Madley blew the final whistle around 95:10 to stop a hugely promising breakaway that could've won us the game at the death.
Howe not happy with VAR
Howe was "surprised" that VAR concluded that "nothing happened" after van Dik's off-the-ball smash into Gordon - he knew what he was doing - and felt Isak should've been given a penalty, with replays showing that Quansah got none of the ball.
“I thought it was a penalty on Alex," Howe said. "But I haven’t seen a replay, that was just an initial thought. Then, I think VAR looked at (the van Dijk on Gordon incident) and concluded nothing happened, so we have to accept it. I was surprised by it initially though.”
The boss then explained why he was so baffled to see Madley blow up early, revealing that he was expecting SEVEN minutes to be played based on the stoppages during added time:
"I was surprised by the final whistle because I think we’d spent around two minutes on a free-kick in extra-time, so I was expecting seven minutes to be played. I think it was 5.15 when he’s blown, so that was a blow because it looked like we were in a good position."
It's no surprise to see Liverpool get the rub of the green - we all know what happened at Anfield a few seasons ago and that 'big six bias' - but it's at last a relief that we came away with a point, becoming just the second team to stop Slot's side from winning in their last 17 games.
Refereeing decisions aside, it was a much-improved performance and proof that we can compete that best when we get it right. The challenge now is repeating that in the weeks ahead; starting at Brentford on Saturday.
