Hackett Exclusive: VAR AWOL on Watkins penalty incident in Aston Villa v Newcastle
Aston Villa should have been awarded a penalty against Newcastle United following a “careless” challenge by Fabian Schar, according to Keith Hackett.
Ollie Watkins appeared to be brought down inside the penalty area just before the half-time break, but after a swift VAR check, the decision was given against Villa on Saturday, 19 April.
With Marcus Rashford benched by Unai Emery, Watkins was finally given a chance to impress, opening the scoring inside the first minute, but the Villans were pegged back to 1-1 by Schar in the first half.
Then, with the Swiss centre-half already receiving a yellow card in the 13th minute, his challenge on the striker, prompting penalty calls, caused even more controversy around the incident.
Goals from Ian Maatsen and Amadou Onana sandwiched a Dan Burn own goal, but ex-PGMOL chief and FIFA referee Hackett was left demanding answers around VAR from the earlier penalty shout.
VAR questioned after Aston Villa penalty missed v Newcastle
VAR is often under pressure in the Premier League, and that was no different at Villa Park as Jarred Gillett was not advised to take a second look at the incident via the pitch-side monitor, much to Hackett’s dismay.
Hackett exclusively told Football Insider that Emery could face an FA sanction due to his pre-match comments about the officiating, but those comments look not to have come to fruition.
Luckily for the home side, the decision did not have an impact on the overall result, with the Villans winning all three points in a thumping 4-1 win over the Magpies.
Ollie Watkins deserved a penalty kick at Villa Park
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Watkins’ collision with Schar, the former referee said:
“When you get an incident like the one involving Ollie Watkins, who goes to ground having been the recipient of a careless challenge from the defender, the referee is left with a decision.
“In this case, if he has not issued a sanction to Ollie Watkins for an act of simulation, then he is, in fact, stating it is a penalty kick. Where was VAR and its intervention?
“That is exactly what it’s there for – for the referee to take a second look.”
Villa will now turn their attention to a trip to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, 22 April, facing Pep Guardiola’s Man City, who are also fighting for a spot in the Champions League next season.