Thomas Frank heavily criticized the VAR decision that awarded Newcastle United a penalty in their 2-2 draw, calling the intervention an “absolute mistake” despite the Premier League issuing a statement to explain the ruling.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank severely criticized the controversial penalty awarded to Newcastle United during their 2-2 draw at St James’ Park, calling the VAR intervention an “absolute mistake,” according to a report from the Shields Gazette.
The Magpies were awarded the spot-kick after VAR overturned the referee’s original decision of no penalty when Dan Burn was pulled down inside the area by Rodrigo Bentancur.
Anthony Gordon subsequently converted the penalty, giving Newcastle a late 2-1 lead before Cristian Romero equalised in the 95th-minute.
Assessing the decision that threatened to cost his side a point, Frank did not hold back:
“At 2-1 down it was an absolute mistake from the VAR. The ref did good to do the ref call and they encourage the refereeing call on the pitch.” He stressed his viewpoint, adding: “For me that is never a penalty.”
Despite the manager’s strong belief that his side felt justice was served with the late equaliser, the Premier League’s Match Centre provided an explanation for the decision during the game.
The Premier League statement read: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Newcastle United. Referee announcement:
“After review, Tottenham number 30 makes a holding offence at the back post and clearly does not look at the ball. My final decision is penalty kick.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe disagreed with Frank’s assessment, defending the decision by noting: “The defender doesn’t look at the ball, he just goes for Dan and Dan goes down so I can see why it was given.”