Nottingham Forest hasn’t had anything to complain about in terms of VAR this season, but it was put under the spotlight once more against Newcastle.
After only six minutes, Callum Hudson-Odoi scored the first goal for the Reds. Forest, on the other hand, played poorly for the rest of the half, trailing 4-1 at the break.
Lewis Miley and Jacob Murphy turned the game on its head in the first few minutes. The third goal, however, sparked the most interest when Ola Aina conceded a penalty kick.
He jumped to block a cross into the box with the ball striking Aina’s arm and after a lengthy check, a penalty kick was awarded to Newcastle with Alexander Isak making the game 3-1.
Premier League release statement after VAR awards penalty for Newcastle
As ever this season, the Premier League offers an explanation after every decision in which VAR has got involved with and they were right on cue with their answer to this one.
The message said: VAR recommended an on-field review for a possible handball by Aina – with his arm deemed to be in an unnatural position. Upon review, the referee awarded a penalty to Newcastle United.”
Isak stepped up and just about beat Matz Sels between the posts after striking his penalty straight down the middle of the goal to give Newcastle a two-goal advantage.
In reality, this was probably a penalty. However, it leaves Forest fans furious given who the VAR actually was in this game at St James’ Park.
Forest fans will be furious at decision made by Peter Bankes
You really couldn’t write some of the inconsistencies in this division. When Forest played Wolves back in January, Peter Bankes waved away a decision very similar to this one when he was the on-field referee.
However, from his ivory tower on this occasion, he chose to recommend an on-field review with Jarrod Gillett then choosing to change his mind and award the penalty.
This shouldn’t sound like sour grapes. Aina probably committed a handball offence but the whole Premier League has to go back to basics with this law and start adapting it to have an ounce of consistency attached to it.
It’s comical that Bankes can deem the one at Wolves in January not worthy of a penalty but then recommend that a similar decision be worth an on-field check.
Fans, managers and players simply crave consistency. Sadly, Bankes has outed himself today as a match official with zero consistency when it comes to the handball law.
