Spurs rescue draw after controversial spot-kick
Tottenham earned a 2-2 draw at St James’ Park thanks to Cristian Romero’s injury-time overhead kick, but the main talking point was Newcastle’s 86th-minute penalty. With the score at 1-1, VAR sent referee Thomas Bramall to the monitor after spotting Rodrigo Bentancur holding Dan Burn at a corner, and the decision was overturned. Anthony Gordon scored from the spot before Romero’s 95th-minute equaliser.
“Absolute mistake from VAR” – Frank
Thomas Frank was furious that VAR intervened at all. He praised the original on-field decision not to award a penalty and insisted the incident was just a tussle that happens on most corners. According to the Spurs boss, even some Newcastle staff felt it wasn’t a spot-kick, and he called again for “consistency” and for VAR to be used only for “clear and obvious” errors.
PGMOL explanation: focus on the opponent
The Premier League’s match manager later explained that Bentancur was penalised because he “clearly does not look at the ball” and commits a holding offence. PGMOL guidelines say:
- If a player only focuses on an opponent and not the ball, and that action has a clear impact, it should be penalised.
- If both players are holding each other in a similar way (mutual holding), play should continue.
- Any clear holding that affects movement or the ability to play the ball should be punished.
Howe sees it as the “right call”
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, after viewing the replay, felt the decision was justified. He highlighted that the defender was not looking at the ball at all and was fully focused on Burn, which encaja con el criterio usado para señalar el penalti.
Pundits warn: this standard means ‘a penalty every game’
Reaction from pundits was overwhelmingly critical. Izzy Christiansen said that, if this is a foul, you could “give a penalty every single game”. Clinton Morrison argued VAR should “stay out of it” in such situations, noting there was no obvious shirt pull and Bentancur was largely standing his ground.
