'That Ok?': Alan Shearer weighed in on social media after controversial refereeing decision

Newcastle United took a point from the home game against Manchester City as the sides drew 1-1 at St James' Park in the early Saturday kick-off.

A sublime finish by Manchester City full-back Josko Gvardiol was cancelled out by an expertly taken penalty by Anthony Gordon to ensure the sides shared the spoils.

But while there were no complaints about the Gvardiol opener, there were those who thought that Newcastle were lucky to be awarded the spot kick that grabbed them the point.

Anthony Gordon was brought down in the area by goalkeeper Ederson after the makeshift centre-forward played the ball beyond the onrushing stopper, and as the two collided a penalty was instantly awarded.

Jarred Gillet pointed to the spot immediately

Referee Jarred Gillett didn't hesitate to point to the spot and VAR quickly backed up his decision, but the real question was whether Anthony Gordon was offside as the ball was initially played to him.

Replays suggested that Kyle Walker had played Gordon on so the penalty stood.

Although, there are a fair few people who thought that the contact on Gordon was minimal, if there was any at all. One of those who didn't feel it was a penalty was Alan Shearer who posted as much on X, saying "I didn't think it was a pen."

The VAR check on the penalty was over very quickly

The Premier League Match Centre X account which provides updates on VAR decisions explained the ruling.

"The referee awarded a penalty for a foul by Ederson on Gordon and issued a yellow card to Ederson, deeming that his actions were a genuine attempt to play the ball but denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity. The VAR checked and confirmed the referee’s call of penalty and a yellow card to Ederson."

We've seen them go either way, but the speed at which Gillett pointed to the spot told all for us - it was absolutely a penalty in his mind, and regardless of how much contact there was, there's no way VAR could have ruled that a clear and obvious error because in real-time it looked like a stonewall penalty.