adminNewcastle v Arsenal: Ex-PGMOL Chief Slams Officials For ‘Easy Decision’ They Got Wrong
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Dan graduated from the University of Winchester in 2020 with a degree in Sport and Exercise Science and stayed on to complete his MRes in Sport and Exercise, which finished in 2021.
Despite Gabriel Magalhaes grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck and scoring a last-gasp winner in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon, many Arsenal fans felt aggrieved that referee Jarred Gillett overturned his decision to give them a penalty. Keith Hackett, formerly a Premier League referee himself, has now provided his opinion on the incident.
After controversy struck and Viktor Gyokeres was denied the chance to increase his 2025/26 tally from the spot kick, it was Nick Woltemade who opened the scoring for Eddie Howe after rising highest to nod home. With six minutes on the clock, Mikel Merino’s header drew proceedings level.
St James’ Park has been a tough place to visit for Mikel Arteta’s men in recent times (before Sunday’s result, they had lost four of their last five visits to Newcastle), but even a victory wasn’t enough for Bukayo Saka to ignore the controversial decision during his post-match interview. Now, refereeing expert Hackett has given his take on the situation and whether Gillett and VAR were in the wrong.
Hackett On Whether Gillett Made the Right Decision by Overturning Arsenal Penalty
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Within the opening 15 minutes of play, Gyokeres – who is widely regarded as one of world football’s best strikers – pounced onto Jacob Murphy’s lazy ball back to Pope, who subsequently had no choice but to bring down the Swede with a reckless challenge. Gillett, without a second thought, pointed to the spotkick, but VAR asked him to review his decision on the pitch side monitor.
After a lengthy review, it was deemed that Pope had actually made contact with the ball before his follow-through on Arsenal’s centre-forward, who was one of the first to complain about the collision. “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Arsenal,” the Premier League Match Centre wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
They then relayed Gillett’s on-field message that there was no foul made by Pope, who played the ball. The statement concluded: “Referee announcement: “After review, the Newcastle goalkeeper plays the ball and there is no foul. The final decision is drop ball.”
Hackett, formerly head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited), spoke to Football Insider about the controversial decision – and he believes that Arsenal, who are now two points behind league leaders Liverpool, have every right to feel wronged after Gillett overturned his original decision of a penalty.
“In what appears to be a clear foul on an opponent, the correct decision would have been to award a penalty kick. Arsenal have every right to feel aggrieved. Sorry, VAR and the referee both viewing that incident and stating that it’s not a penalty kick is simply astonishing. Arsenal on the wrong end of this decision.”
Elsewhere, he said: “I am simply astounded that referee Gillett hasn’t awarded a penalty kick after the intervention of VAR. This is an easy decision the goalkeeper has fouled the forward. This is Gillett’s fourth match this season involving Arsenal. No matter the capacity, referee, VAR of fourth official, that is too much. I find it difficult to understand how a penalty kick has not been awarded to Arsenal.”
Whether Gillett was right to overturn his initial decision, which would have given the north Londoners the chance to gain an early lead, Arsenal poster boy Saka pulled no punches in his post-match interview. He said: “Obviously, there’s a few things we can speak about. For example, the penalty!
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“For me, if we have VAR, it’s for clear and obvious errors, and the face that it took the referee that long to decide shows it’s not a clear and obvious error. It’s things like this, these little things that always go against us. But I think today, we got what we deserved for sure,” he said. “That’s why we are all so happy.”
On the back of collecting three points against Howe and Co, who have won just once in their opening six league matches this term, Arteta and Co look ahead to, on paper at least, a much easier fixture against West Ham United. Before that, they welcome Olympiacos in the Champions League.
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