Isaac Hayden was sent off at Leicester, in what seemed a harsh decision, and he was pictured mouthing “what’s the point” towards the fourth official as he trudged off.
It is hard to argue with the midfielder, as he won the ball with his challenge, and despite his momentum meaning he caught the player, his studs were never up.
It was especially ironic, after Leicester midfielder Hamza Choudhury escaped a similar fate for a far worse foul on Matt Ritchie at St James’ Park in the EFL Cup tie, earlier this season.
His comments could have led to retrospective action buy the Football Association, which would have led to an extended ban.
But those fears were allayed, with Sky Sports reporting Hayden will merely serve the standard three-match ban for serious foul play.
On the decision to not punish him further, the report said: “The FA ruled that because Hayden did not question the integrity or neutrality of the officials, there would be no further sanction.”
VAR’s backing of the ref makes any Newcastle appeal pointless
However, even a three-game suspension for what was arguably a very harsh decision, is ridiculous, and although Newcastle would likely have lost the game at Leicester anyway, the true cost is now being without one of the few players who has performed decently this season.
The fact that the increasingly useless VAR backed up referee Craig Pawson’s decision, means it would be hard for Newcastle to appeal the red card.
They say two wrongs do not make a right, but in this case, both the referee and VAR got it wrong, but because they both came to the same – misguided – decision, apparently, that did apparently make it right.
It is no wonder Hayden was asking what the point of playing the game is, when a player cannot make a tackle without being punished, and then the system that was brought in to correct refereeing errors, merely refuses to intervene.
So the same question Hayden was asking about playing, could be aimed at VAR – what is the point?
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
