Howard Webb has defended VAR’s decision not to award Arsenal a penalty in their controversial 2-1 comeback win against Newcastle United on Sunday and dubbed Nick Pope’s challenge on Viktor Gyokeres a “good” one. The under-fire PGMOL chief has branded the initial call a “clear error” by the referee.
Jarred Gillett initially pointed to the spot when Gyokeres broke into the Newcastle box and was brought down by Pope. VAR intervened and sent Gillett to the pitchside monitor, where the decision was then overturned, much to the bemusement of Mikel Arteta and his players.
Arsenal managed to get the job done despite the debate over the decision not to award a penalty because Pope had got a touch on the ball. Goals from Mikel Merino (84′) and Gabriel Magalhaes (90+6′) cancelled out Nick Woltemade’s opener (34′).
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal: Howard Webb Agreed With VAR Intervention
Webb conducted a thorough analysis of the incident during an appearance on the Premier League’s ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ show. The former Premier League official, who was appointed technical director of the PGMOL in August 2014, said that Pope had made a clear contact with the ball:
“The VAR checks the penalty. When he does that, he clearly sees that Gyokeres gets to the ball, pokes it a little bit forward but then, importantly, Nick Pope also gets a very clear touch on the ball as he steps forward with that right foot and deviates the direction that the ball is going in. That hadn’t been appreciated on the field by the referee.”
He added:
“Pope then plants his foot on the ground, he doesn’t drive it forward into Gyokeres. There’s clearly a gap between the two players after Pope has played the ball and then the two players come together quite normally.
Webb continued by praising VAR: “The action by Pope is normal, it’s not reckless, it’s just a kick out towards the ball, the ball deviates, no contact on the player until the ball has been played away and then the contact happens fairly normally so not a foul and therefore a good use of the VAR to intervene to show the referee what really happened.”
He added: “I think the deviation is quite clear. You’ll see that touch by Gyokeres, then you’ll see Pope’s right leg come in. It touches the ball, it moves the ball away in a different direction to the direction it was previously going in. When he then puts his foot on the ground having made contact with the ball, there’s a separation between him and Gyokeres. There’s no contact at that point. The contact only happens after Pope has played the ball.”
Jamie Redknapp was among many who were stunned by the decision to overturn the penalty, as was Mikel Arteta who felt the time it took Gillett to assess whether it was a spot kick meant “it wasn’t clear and obvious”.
Webb continued to defend VAR’s intervention: “So, it’s a good challenge by Pope, it’s not a foul and there was an important part around this in that the referee didn’t recognise that touch by Pope in real time, hence the reason that when the VAR saw it, he deemed it to be a clear and obvious error, because that touch by Pope hadn’t been seen and therefore the referee could go to the screen to look at that really important aspect and make a judgement for himself and that judgement was, yes, I’ve seen the touch and therefore it’s not a foul and I’m going to start with a dropped ball.”
It was one of two high-profile refereeing decisions that unfortunately marred Premier League football on the weekend. The gloss of Brentford’s 3-1win over Manchester United was somewhat diminished because Nathan Collins remained on the pitch despite being the last man and bringing Bryan Mbeumo down, and clearly denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg hit out at Webb after watching Arsenal beat Newcastle. He highlighted how the main topic of conversation is about the standards of officiating.
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal: Gary Lineker: VAR Is ‘Unworkable’
Gary Lineker thought that the decision was ‘probably’ correct despite the lengthy discussion that has ensued since Sunday’s dramatic clash between Arsenal and Newcastle. The iconic former England striker argued that this situation is a perfect example of why VAR doesn’t work.
The Tottenham legend said on The Rest is Football podcast: “It’s unworkable, VAR, because referees, VAR, you don’t know where the line is. One week it’s a high bar, then it’s a low bar, then it’s a slightly lower bar, and then it’s a higher bar. Because was that a howler of a decision? No. Was it the right decision in the end? Probably.”
He added: “But it comes to the point where you go, well, all we want is the right decision. But they’ve always said, this is not about re-refereeing in the game. But that is re-refereeing in the game.”
VAR continues to come under intense scrutiny at the start of the season due to the constant influence it has on Premier League matches. It was introdued ahead of the 2019-20 season after clubs unanimously voted in November 2018 for technology to be used moving forward.