Newcastle United fans watching the Champions League on Wednesday evening were quick to point out the double standards of VAR.
Ever since its introduction to football, VAR has completely split opinion and has managed to irritate every fanbase in one way or another.
Newcastle have had their fair share of awful calls. The list of every VAR mistake made last season makes for tough reading.
Newcastle fans know as well as anyone that there is a staggering lack of consistency between the officiating in the Premier League and Champions League.
Tino Livramento conceded a penalty against PSG last season which robbed Newcastle of what would have been an iconic victory in Paris.
Newcastle United fans spot ‘farcical’ Champions League mistake
Aston Villa suffered a 1-0 defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday evening with the only goal coming from a bizarre penalty.
Tyrone Mings lent over and picked up the ball to reposition it, but the referee had already blown his whistle to resume play.
Mings’ mistake was labelled “farcical” by TNT Sports with the referee immediately awarding a penalty for intentional handball.
It was described as a “moment of madness” by Peter Crouch while Villa manager Unai Emery said after full-time that it was the “biggest mistake” he has seen in his career.
There is no denying that it was a huge blunder from Mings, but Newcastle fans were quick to question why there wasn’t such a fuss made when the exact same happened against Eddie Howe‘s side when they faced Brighton.
Newcastle United fans furious at VAR double standards
Newcastle fans only have to cast their mind back to October and to the 1-0 defeat to Brighton at St James’ Park.
In the second half of the match, Brighton appeared to take a goal kick before the ball was picked up and put back down in the six-yard box.
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Despite appeals from Newcastle players across the pitch, referee Peter Bankes waved play on.
Newcastle fans were quick to point this out on social media after watching Villa concede a penalty for the same mistake.
One supporter posted: “I’m glad somebody else picked up on that! It was worse [than] the Mings one too!”.
Another wrote: “Shows how poor our refs and Var are! BOTH PENS!”.
The outrage continued with one fan writing: “So it’s fine for 1 and not for another”, while another added: “No difference at all”.
Finally, one fan posted: “100% pen and no one even mentioned it. The life of a NUFC fan ….”.
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