VAR was at the centre of Newcastle’s clash with Southampton.
First it sent Moussa Djenepo off for a stamp on Isaac Hayden, after Graham Scott initially brandished a yellow card. Incredibly, the referee even looked at the screen to make up his mind.
Then on the stroke of half time, Southampton fans were berating VAR again.
Sofiane Boufal handled the ball just inside the box, but initially the referee gave nothing. Then VAR intervened and handed the Magpies a penalty.
Matt Ritchie stepped up but was unable to capitalise. Luckily for him, Allan Saint-Maximin scored late in the day to spare Ritchie’s blushes.
After the game, Southampton fans were enraged with the refereeing, but it’s hard to see why.
Djenepo’s challenge on Hayden was awful. There were people of a Saints persuasion claiming Javi Manquillo should’ve seen red for a similar challenge, but that was only a reaction to the Djenepo red.
Manquillo actually pulled out of the challenge, colliding with Ryan Bertrand at about zero miles per hour.
Southampton can moan about referees and VAR all they like, but they’d want those decisions if they were for them rather than against.
Bitter Saints fans rage at VAR
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