Glenn Hoddle was left baffled by the call to not award Newcastle United a penalty during their 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, as he told Premier League Productions (13/03/22 at 4:10 pm).
Trevoh Chalobah and Jacob Murphy were the ones in the spotlight, with Hoddle questioning how VAR couldn’t see that the Chelsea defender was fouling the Newcastle winger.
It wasn’t the only controversial call at Stamford Bridge because the Newcastle faithful felt that Kai Havertz should have been sent off for his challenge on Dan Burn.
Either way, it ended up proving to be costly for Eddie Howe and his players, with Havertz scoring a quite spectacular late winner to end the Magpies’ unbeaten run in the Premier League.
This is what Hoddle made of the Chalobah-Murphy incident, as he was pretty critical of VAR and how it didn’t manage to spot the foul.
“It’s a penalty,” said Hoddle. “The first pull was outside of the box, then Chalobah continued to hold onto him I am thinking ‘what is he doing?’
“It goes to VAR, you are thinking ‘it’s got to be a penalty’. I don’t understand it. I really don’t. Anywhere on the pitch, wherever you see a shirt being pulled. It’s always a booking. It’s always a foul. The referee is on the blindside, he can’t see.
“But exactly (that’s why there is VAR). How can you sit there and watch a video and say ‘no he didn’t pull his shirt’.
“It’s a simple one actually, that’s a simple decision for VAR. Difficult for the referee, with loads of bodies in the way. But if VAR can’t get that right then what are we doing?”
This was a result and performance where Newcastle can still hold their head high because they deserved more.
It wasn’t so long ago that they couldn’t even win a game in the Premier League and now they sit in March where their only defeats, since December, have been against Chelsea and Manchester City.
That is some going and proof that the heavy pockets of Newcastle, with added investment in the summer, might just do some serious talking next season when the transfer window re-opens.
As for Chelsea, they will be glad to put three points on the board after a lot of off-field drama involving Roman Abramovich.
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