Newcastle United forward Callum Wilson is trying to look at things in a ‘positive way’ after a terrible penalty decision robbed them of victory against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
The Magpies were moments away from a historic win in the Champions League, with Alexander Isak giving Eddie Howe’s side the lead in Paris.
They led up until the 98th minute, when Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty to break Toon hearts.
It was agonizing to concede so late, especially when it was courtesy of a penalty that never should have been awarded in the first place.
An Ousmane Dembele cross deflected off of Tino Livramento, which led to appeals from the PSG players. The referee initially said no penalty, and replays showed that the ball hit Livramento’s body before hitting his arm, with the Toon defender unable to do anything about it.
However, VAR interfered and told the referee to have another look. He reversed his decision and gave PSG the chance to steal victory away Newcastle.
It was an awful decision, and one that led to VAR official Tomasz Kwiatkowski being removed from his post for the Real Sociedad vs Salzburg game the night after.
Everyone is pretty unanimous that it was the incorrect decision, and now injured Newcastle striker Callum Wilson has given his view.
Callum Wilson knows Newcastle were on the end of a ‘terrible decision’
Wilson has discussed the penalty call on the latest episode of the Footballer’s Football Podcast.
On the penalty decision, presenter Rickie Haywood-Williams said: “Nobody agreed with that decision. It was absolutely ridiculous. Wild.”
“It’s true, it was a terrible decision,” Wilson replied.
“And I think for people to get stood down after the game says everything you need to know about the decision that was given.
“Ultimately we are now in a position where we need to win and rely on other results but I guess at the beginning of the group when we were first drawn into that group of death you would probably have taken that position come the last group game in the Champions League, so you have to look at it in a positive way.”
Newcastle still have a chance in the Champions League
As Wilson says, the fact the VAR official was stood down the next day says it all.
It is a decision that has had a huge impact on Champions League Group F, as it means the Magpies are now relying on others to have a chance of advancing to the knockout stages.
But Wilson is trying to find the positives. The fact that we are in with a chance with just one game to go is hugely impressive considering who we are up against, and hopefully the decision in Paris is not what costs us a place in the next round of the competition.
However, just like everybody else, he is adamant that Newcastle really were on the end of a ‘terrible decision’.
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