Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has questioned the use of VAR after Elliot Anderson saw his goal ruled out for offside in the most recent Newcastle United win.
What’s the latest on Elliot Anderson, Newcastle and VAR?
The Magpies managed to pick up all three points in the Premier League on Friday night, but only just. Indeed, Alexander Isak netted a late penalty against Nottingham Forest to seal a 2-1 win.
Emmanuel Dennis had opened the scoring at the City Ground before the Swede netted a brace to turn the game around but Anderson thought he’d given his side the lead much earlier on in the second half.
While talking after the game on Sky Sports, Neville explained that seems the goal was ruled out because Longstaff was deemed to be offside in the build-up.
Even though he only touched the ball after it had been played by defender Felipe, VAR and referee Paul Tierney felt that the Forest man had not intentionally played the ball.
Clearly annoyed, Neville said: “When they [VAR] start to look at it, the judgement here is that Felipe in the middle has not played this ball deliberately. And that’s why it’s not reset. He’s deflected that.
“Now, I don’t get that at all. For me, he’s definitely played that ball. I’ve been there many times as a defender, whereby I’ve obviously tried to clear it, it’s not quite gone where I wanted it to.
“And for me, I’m a little bit bemused.”
What is the reaction to Elliot Anderson’s NUFC goal being ruled out for offside?
After the game, Anderson took to Instagram to state that he was “gutted” by the decision. Seeing as it would have been his first senior goal for the Magpies, it’s not hard to see why he’s upset.
Manager Eddie Howe also shared Neville’s sentiment on the incident, telling the press: “I’m not sure what happened there, I’ve got no idea, so I need to sit down and see what happened and what the thought process was.
And adding: “I was surprised to see the referee go over to the screen and make that decision and that call.”
What’s more, even former referee Mark Halsey weighed in on the debate, dubbing the offside rule a “nonsense decision” in an interview with SunSport.
Taking everything into account, it’s certainly a relief from a Newcastle point of view that this controversial decision did not alter the final result of the game with Howe and co picking up three points regardless.
Had things ended all square, however, this may well have been an even bigger talking point.