Dermot Gallagher now shares whether he believes Newcastle United were right to have been awarded penalty

Newcastle United needed a spot-kick to get going on Saturday against Southampton after the hosts took a shock lead after 10 minutes.

Alexander Isak was brought down in the box on 25 minutes with the referee Sam Barrott indicating a corner kick before VAR intervened and sent the referee to the pitchside screen to review his decision.

While all of this was going on, Sky Sports' co-commentator, former Wimbledon defender Efan Ekoku was constantly saying that it was never a penalty, with every angle that was shown, Ekoku got even more bold with his claims, insisting that the referee had got it right first time.

After a very brief look at the monitors, Sam Barrott quickly changed his decision and awarded the penalty much to Ekoku's disbelief.

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Dermot Gallagher says it was a clear penalty

It looked for all the world like a penalty for everyone else watching, but Ekoku, who was so anti-Newcastle all the way through the game, was astounded by the call.

Now former referee Dermot Gallagher has had his say on the incident as part of Sky Sports' Ref Watch segment.

“It was a brilliant intervention (by VAR).

“The referee is blocked off. There are too many players in the way. When you see it again, it’s a foul.

“There’s an angle they show the referee and he sees it once and gives the penalty.”

There could be no complaints about how the penalty was taken

So, there you go, Efan, it absolutely was a penalty, like everyone else said it was. Please never commentate on a Newcastle game ever again.

The penalty was rightly awarded, but there was no question about how the penalty was taken. Alexander Isak was the coolest man in Southampton when he stepped up and sent Alex McCarthy for a hot dog before rolling the ball into the net.

Isak silenced the Southampton crowd and almost managed to shut up Efan Ekoku.