Former Premier League referee gives his verdict on controversial penalty decision from Newcastle United versus Manchester United
Newcastle United failed to win on the road yet again on Boxing Day despite dominating Manchester United for 65 minutes of the game.
A stunning Patrick Dorgu volley was all it took for a much-changed Manchester United side to keep up their run of Boxing Day home wins as Newcastle struggled to create any kind of meaningful chances.
Despite Newcastle's almost constant pressure, the Magpies failed to really trouble Senne Lammens' goal other than a Lewis Hall effort, which rattled the bar in the second half.
However, there were strong appeals for a penalty in the second half as Lisandro Martinez handled the ball after a Fabian Schar effort on goal.
Keith Hackett says whether the referee got it right
VAR took a long look at the incident as Martinez's arms were away from his body in an unnatural position; however, they were there because he was tussling with Malick Thiaw in the area while defending a corner.
That was the action that Gary Neville on commentary for Sky Sports, said was likely to save him, and ultimately proved to be the case, and now former PGMOL head, Keith Hackett, has told Football Insider that the officials got it right on the night.
“The referee has to judge if the action by the player is deliberate when deciding that an offence has taken place.
“Not every time the ball comes into contact is it an offence. There is sufficient doubt in this action not to award a penalty kick.”
We reluctantly accept the referee's decision
The only thing that had me wondering if it would go our way was how Martinez seemed to scoop the ball towards him to help him make the clearance, but in real-time, it was clear that it was a result of his movement and not a deliberate action.
As much as I'd have obviously accepted if the penalty was given, it never felt likely, and as one X user pointed out, the ball hit his chest first, then his hand.
Last week, Newcastle were robbed of a blatant penalty, so it would have been nice for karma to balance things out, but we reluctantly agree with the officials' call this time.
