ANTHONY GORDON has criticised the decision not to award him a penalty as Newcastle United lost to Manchester United last night – and questioned the point of VAR if such a crucial incident can be adjudged incorrectly.

The Magpies lost 3-2 at Old Trafford as their hopes of qualifying for Europe suffered a major blow, but things might have been different when Gordon was challenged by both Sofyan Amrabat and Casemiro when they were trailing 1-0 towards the end of the first half.

While Casemiro got the ball as he challenged Gordon in the area, Amrabat had already clipped the Newcastle winger’s ankle before his team-mate made any contact.

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The incident was missed by referee Robert Jones, and while the VAR, Peter Bankes, reviewed it, the on-field official was not instructed to head to his pitch-side screen.

“It’s still really sore,” said Gordon, who scored Newcastle’s equaliser at the start of the second half, only for subsequent strikes from Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund to ultimately prove decisive. “I’m not too sure on how my ankle will be, but I’ve watched the incident back and it’s a clear penalty.

“I don’t mind the referee getting it wrong on the pitch because things happen really quickly. But I don’t understand what the point of VAR is then because it’s there to correct mistakes.

“He (Amrabat) goes down my Achilles and pushes me in the back. And then Casemiro comes and gets the ball but it’s two fouls before that. I just honestly don’t see the point in it.”

Ironically, the incident came a matter of hours after Wolves launched an attempt to have VAR scrapped for next season.

The future of VAR will be discussed at a Premier League board meeting in Harrogate on June 6, with Wolves calling for a vote on the use of the technology. Any rule change would need a two-thirds majority – 14 of the 20 clubs – to vote in favour in order for it to be passed.

“I’m actually quite fond of it (VAR),” said Gordon. “Or at least I’m fond of the idea. It should be a thing that works in the league. But it’s not. There’s constantly too many mistakes.

“We’ve missed too many chances to blame anyone else, but (if a penalty had been awarded) then the game changes. It’s a clear, clear and obvious mistake, I don’t know how you can get it wrong. So, either get rid of it or get better. It’s very simple.”

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was against the idea of VAR prior to its introduction in 2019. The technology was introduced to help support on-field officials with key match decisions, but this season in particular has witnessed a succession of controversial calls that have undermined faith in both the system itself and the way it is currently being implemented in the Premier League.

“I was watching it (the incident with Gordon) back at the time trying to see what had happened and why Anthony had gone down,” said Howe. “I was thinking there must be a reason.

“For the first couple of views of it, I couldn’t see, but then you could see the contact and it was a stonewall penalty. I don’t know how VAR has not got involved in that – that’s it’s job.

“I’m the same on VAR as I’ve always been. I like the power being with the referee, even if they miss penalties like this. For me, with offsides, it’s a yes. But give the power back to the referees.”