Richard Keys says something ‘unfathomable’ happened during the Newcastle game this weekend

Add as preferred source on Google

Newcastle United received a huge slice of luck during their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Saturday.

That is the view of presenter Richard Keys, who has expressed his dismay at the penalty the Magpies were awarded in the second half.

The decision came after a lengthy VAR check, as the officials studied a shirt pull inside the box on Fabian Schar.

It was clear that the Toon defender had his shirt pulled, but the issue was he was actually in an offside position when the ball was played. However, it was determined that Schar had not actually been able to influence play yet, so the foul overwrote the offside.

That resulted in a penalty being given, which Anthony Gordon converted.

Richard Keys angry about Newcastle penalty vs Bournemouth

It was a strange decision in hindsight, and one that has left the outspoken Richard Keys furious. He has wrote about the incident in his weekly blog.

“But Rob Jones in VAR gets involved because he reckons Newcastle should have a pen,” he wrote.

“It takes four minutes for Michael Salisbury (yep – him again) and Jones to decide to give the pen.

“Here’s the bit that is completely unfathomable. They agree Schar is offside – but they say that he was ‘denied the chance to impact the play’. What? He was offside for f…. sake. That’s the first offence. Give the decision. It’s easy. By the way – I’m not making this up. This is what the matchday centre tell beINSPORTS.

“I understand that you can be in an offside position and not be active. If Schar had been some distance from where the ball dropped – fine. But he wasn’t. He was the target. So he’s offside. Andoni Iraola was totally bemused after clearly being given the same explanation as us.

“This is why we need to be able to hear the conversations that take place at the monitor. What on earth were Salisbury and Jones discussing? And it took them four minutes to f…. it up. The level of incompetence is frightening. And I repeat – Webb (showbiz showbiz showbiz) can’t defend that decision.”

Strange decision benefits Newcastle

The logic behind the decision makes sense, but it is very confusing. Just because someone is offside does not mean they are fair game to be wiped out. However, it does seem harsh on Bournemouth. If it had been the other way around, I imagine we would have been angry to concede a penalty like that.

It came after a lengthy VAR check, and as usual no one inside St James’ Park had any clue what was going on.

It was a frustrating afternoon on Tyneside in which the Magpies needed Matt Ritchie of all people to rescue a point. The performance from Newcastle was poor, while the refereeing was questionable for both sides.

Michael Salisbury had a pretty torrid afternoon on his first appearance at St James’ Park since September 2022. Based on his performance on Saturday, it will probably be a while before he is invited back.