Ex-refs chief slams officials for baffling decision that cost Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle
Newcastle United entered the international break in positive fashion, beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at St. James’ Park.
Ange Postecoglou is facing the sack at Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle’s win won’t have helped the Australian’s cause.
Newcastle were without Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento ahead of the game, but Eddie Howe was able to adjust his line-up and the hosts ran away with a victory.
Nick Woltemade scored his third goal in three games at home in the Premier League as the German striker impressed once again.
Ex-PGMOL chief believes Newcastle United’s first goal shouldn’t have stood
Newcastle took the lead through Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes who curled a lovely effort past Matz Sels.
| Bruno Guimaraes vs Nottingham Forest | Stat |
| Goals | 1 |
| Pass accuracy | 81% |
| Chances created | 1 |
| Penalties won | 1 |
| Defensive contributions | 7 |
However, Nottingham Forest felt aggrieved at the decision and protested that they should have been awarded a foul on Morgan Gibbs-White in the build-up.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Keith Hackett, the former chief of PGMOL, said: “Referee Peter Bankes wrongly allowed play to continue after Newcastle United’s Guimaraes had won the ball and then fouled Morgan Gibbs White in his follow-through through pushing the Nottingham Forest player to the ground.
“VAR should have intervened after the goal had been scored on the basis that Guimaraes had committed a foul.
“If you look at the Newcastle United players’ arms, you can see them moving from a bent to a straight position, which satisfies me that a push has taken place.
“Sadly, the exaggerated fall by the Nottingham Forest player did not help his cause and may have influenced the referee, who was very close to the incident, to not take action.”
Newcastle United fall on the right side of another controversial refereeing decision
A week prior to Guimaraes and Woltemade giving Newcastle a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, the Tyneside club were embroiled in more refereeing controversy.
Arsenal were denied a penalty in their game against Newcastle, with VAR overturning Jarred Gillett’s on-field penalty decision.
Against Nottingham Forest, VAR came to Newcastle’s aid again as the Magpies’ first goal was allowed to stand by the video assistant.
Howe will hope that his side can benefit from more refereeing and VAR decisions as the league season continues, with Newcastle hunting for more silverware this season.