Newcastle United got back to winning ways on Saturday night.
After three defeats on the spin, Callum Wilson’s penalty was enough to beat Brentford to raise morale ahead of the Champions League clash against AC Milan on Tuesday.
While, on the face of it, a 1-0 victory looks rather understated, the game was full of incident.
Wilson had earlier had a goal disallowed for a perceived foul on Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who then gave away a spot-kick for a foul on Anthony Gordon.
Newcastle were then punished by VAR again when a second penalty was overturned following Bryan Mbeumo’s handball.
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Christian Norgaard suggests penalty wasn’t referee’s call
Indeed, after so many incidents, there was always likely to be a reaction.
Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard provided some interesting insight after the game. The Dane said he heard referee Craig Pawson suggesting the foul on Gordon wasn’t enough for a penalty in his eyes before talking to the linesman.
“I heard the referee say ‘not for me, not for me’ so maybe the assistant gave it. I just think in a game like this it is not the right decision,” he told Premier League Productions (via BBC Sport’s LIVE blog at 19.57).
“It’s frustrating of course, you come here as the underdogs and this small decision turns it. It’s a tough one to take.”
Swings and roundabouts
Perhaps the foul on Gordon was a little soft but the decision to overturn Wilson’s strike was similar. Backing into Flekken, there did not appear to be much in it but the goal was not chalked off anyway.
For that reason, it’s hard to have too much sympathy. Wilson should really have already scored and the officials let Brentford again off the hook with the second spot-kick.
It wasn’t a particularly pretty game for anybody but a vital win for Newcastle.