Why Anthony Gordon was not ruled offside in Newcastle's penalty against West Ham
The Premier League is back and it didn't take long for VAR to take center stage again during Newcastle's 4-3 win over West Ham.
The magpies took an early lead at St James' Park thanks to an Alexander Isak penalty, but there were questions over whether the penalty should have been awarded due to offside. Antonio Gordon.
Referee Robert Jones initially awarded a penalty after Gordon was brought down in the area by a clumsy Vladimir Coufal, but Isak had to wait to take his kick due to a lengthy VAR check.
The officials at Stockley Park were checking whether or not Gordon was offside when teammate Fabian Schar pushed the ball in his direction.
It appeared that the winger was indeed in an offside position on the left edge of the area, but the ball did not leave Schar's boot.
In reality, the ball was heading towards the Swiss star's goal, and was only deflected towards Gordon after a kick from western ham Defense Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Mavropanos' touch was deemed by the referees to be a deliberate action and Gordon was therefore not given offside despite being a shoulder away from the Hammers' defensive line.
Isak then stepped up and made no mistake on his penalty, sending the ball into the net from the left post with an unstoppable effort.
Hammers fans were left fuming, with PGMOL branding “disgraceful” and even a West Ham legend weighing in.
Hammers favorite Tony Cottee wrote on
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Another West Ham fan wrote: “But what's VAR really for? Clearly offside, and he's the one who steps on Coufal.
“PGMOL, you guys are embarrassing.”
Isak's goal was the first of a seven-goal thriller on Tyneside, as Newcastle came back from 3-1 down against the Hammers to win 4-3 in stoppage time.
West Ham found themselves level shortly after Isak's first goal. michail antoniofirm finish, after a high pass from Lucas Paquetá that divided the defense.
More strikes and Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen sent the visitors into a seemingly commanding 3-1 lead early in the second half, but West Ham fell apart with 20 minutes remaining.
Kalvin Phillips' nightmare season continued when he awarded the second penalty of the match in a carbon copy of the first incident, the midfielder brought down Gordon in the area, leading to Isak scoring 3-2 from the spot.
And in a tale of two substitutes, Harvey Barnes came off the bench as Newcastle scored twice, with his winning goal coming in added time to send St James' into a tizzy.
Cottee attacked X again after the final whistle, posting: “Sometimes it's not nice to be a Hammer… how the hell did we lose that game?!”
