Eddie Howe and Thomas Frank disagree after Premier League release statement explaining Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur penalty decision.
NewcastleWorld Essential: Your weekly round-up packed with everything you need to know from our great city.
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NewcastleWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
A 95th-minute equaliser for Tottenham Hotspur denied Newcastle United a third straight Premier League victory.
Substitutes Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon twice put the Magpies in front but Spurs twice responded through captain Cristian Romero.
All four goals came in the final 20 minutes, with Guimaraes scoring in the 71st minute before Romero headed home Mohammed Kudus’ cross seven minutes later.
Newcastle then thought they had clinched a late winner when Gordon scored from the penalty spot, with the awarding of the penalty angering the visitors.
Dan Burn was brought down by Rodrigo Bentancur. Referee Thomas Bramall waved away Newcastle’s appeals before changing his decision after being sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR.
Eddie Howe & Thomas Frank disagree over Newcastle United penalty decision v Tottenham Hotspur
Although Spurs ultimately walked away with a point through Romano’s overhead kick in stoppage time, manager Thomas Frank was keen to highlight the decision in his post-match assessment.
Frank said: “At 2-1 down it was an absolute mistake from the VAR. The ref did good to do the ref call and they encourage the refereeing call on the pitch. For me that is never a penalty.
“Even speaking to some [people] from Newcastle, they don't think it's a penalty. We need the consistency because that penalty, that would be given two times a game and I actually think the referees say it's a referee call on the pitch and he nailed it. On VAR, it can only be if it's clear and obvious.”
Eddie Howe, however, disagreed, saying: “I'd just seen it again there when I was getting interviewed. I think the defender doesn't look at the ball. I think he's just focused on Dan and Dan goes down, so I could see why it was given.”
Premier League issue statement explaining penalty decision
Explaining the decision, the Premier League’s Match Centre wrote: “82’ VAR OVERTURN After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of no penalty to Newcastle United.
“Referee announcement: ‘After review, Tottenham number 30 makes a holding offence at the back post and clearly does not look at the ball. My final decision is penalty kick.’”
What both managers said about their side’s performance
There were contrasting emotions from both managers, with Frank pleased with his side’s performance, while Howe had an overriding feeling on disappointment.
Frank said: "The performance showed fantastic mentality and character. Every team needs that. It is fair to say it has been a tough week, fourth game in 10 days, third away game. St James' Park is always a difficult place to come. Last 60 minutes I am very happy with that performance overall. The ability to react to setbacks was great.”
Howe added: “We're hugely frustrated with ourselves really. That was a game where we had to work really hard for the first goal. I thought we were the dominant team and knocking on the door all through the first half.
“The goal came when it came and I felt then we were in a strong position having been relatively comfortable defensively to then concede the two goals in the way that we did, in the manner that we did.
“It's hugely disappointing because we pride ourselves on being better than that defensively.”