Newcastle United were handed a major boost during their Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners, who do not boast a strong record against Newcastle United at St James’ Park, started well on Tyneside.
They were largely having the better of things in the opening exchanges and thought they were awarded a penalty when Viktor Gyokeres was brought down by Nick Pope.
A poor back pass from Jacob Murphy caused the Newcastle goalkeeper to rush out and bring the Arsenal forward down when he was through on goal.
Referee Jarred Gillet initially awarded a penalty for a foul on the Sweden international, although it was subsequently overturned by VAR.
Nick Pope handed lifeline after Arsenal mistake
To Pope’s credit, he was dealt a bad hand by Murphy’s ball. A spot-kick was awarded and home supporters would no doubt have feared that Pope would be given his marching orders too.
Initially, it looked a clear penalty, but VAR called the referee to the monitor.
Indeed, upon closer inspection, Pope actually played the ball before colliding with Gyokeres.
Gillet communicated that to the crowd at St James’ Park.
The Premier League’s official match centre tweeted: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Arsenal.
“Referee announcement: “After review, the Newcastle goalkeeper plays the ball and there is no foul. The final decision is drop ball.”
What Mikel Arteta did after Newcastle United penalty drama
As per Simon Collings on social media platform X, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta had his head in his hands on the touchline at St James’.
The Arsenal manager couldn’t believe what had happened and he’s certainly been there before on Tyneside.
In fairness to Arteta, it did initially look like a certain penalty. However, that’s what VAR is for.
If the shoe was on the other foot, it’d be fair to assume that Newcastle United fans would be raging.
Luckily, however, on that incident at least, Eddie Howe’s side were on the right side of the decision.
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