Premier League Issue Explanation After ‘Disgraceful’ Penalty in Newcastle vs Spurs Draw
Tottenham fans were left furious after Newcastle were awarded a controversial penalty during their 2-2 draw at St James’ Park, prompting the Premier League to explain the decision.
Bruno Guimarães put Newcastle ahead in the 71st minute, but Cristian Romero equalised shortly after. Ten minutes later, VAR advised referee Thomas Bramall to review a coming together between Rodrigo Bentancur and Dan Burn at a Newcastle corner. Although both players appeared to be holding each other, Bramall ruled that Bentancur’s contact was sufficient to give a penalty, shocking Spurs players and supporters.
Premier League explain the call
The Premier League later clarified the reasoning on their Match Centre account on X, stating: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Newcastle United. Referee announcement: ‘After review, Tottenham number 30 commits a holding offence at the back post and clearly isn’t looking at the ball. My final decision is a penalty kick.’”
Despite this explanation, the call was widely criticised. Jamie Carragher called it “harsh” on Sky Sports, while Rio Ferdinand branded the decision “disgraceful”, saying both the VAR team and the referee should be “ashamed”.
Anthony Gordon converted the penalty to restore Newcastle’s lead, but Romero struck again late on with an improvised bicycle kick after Aaron Ramsdale failed to clear a corner, earning Spurs a point.
Neither side managed a late winner, but Tottenham players felt aggrieved by the penalty decision. Kevin Danso said afterwards that it felt “tough” on Spurs and that the Premier League lacks consistency when judging holding incidents at set pieces.
