Newcastle United came close to securing an away victory over PSG in their group-stage match in the UEFA Champions League. The Magpies were denied a win by a last-minute penalty by Kylian Mbappe, which was the major talking point of the game.
The English side was leading in the stoppage time of the second half when an effort from Ousmane Dembélé struck the arm of Tino Livramento inside the box. The on-field referee, Szymon Marciniak, waved off the initial appeals from the PSG players but VAR took charge and helped in overturning the decision in favor of the French club. Kylian Mbappe stepped up and equalized to save face for PSG.
The decision became the biggest talking point of the game when the replay showed that the ball came off Livramento’s chest first and then touched the hand. Under current UEFA rules, the decision was given a penalty due to the fact that Livramento made his body bigger with his arm in an unnatural position.
🤢 “It was a disgusting decision.”
🤦♂️ “We’ve got the guidelines from UEFA here… it’s a terrible decision.”
Jason Cundy was baffled by the late penalty in #NUFC’s draw with PSG pic.twitter.com/2wVZmUuxnb
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) November 28, 2023
The current rule and decision raised some eyebrows in England, as the same handball would not have resulted in a penalty. A new layer has been added to the mix with a new revelation that UEFA’s Football Board had previously advised the governing body to make some changes in the handball rule that would have saved Newcastle United from this controversial penalty.
Back in April 2023, the independent advisory group stated with regard to the Laws of the Game, which stipulate that not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offense. They recommended UEFA to change the handball rule in the 2023/24 season.
Newcastle’s legend Alan Shearer reacts to the controversial penalty decision against PSG
The board recommended UEFA should clarify that no handball offense should be called on a player if the ball is previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go toward the goal. The recommendation wasn’t implemented by UEFA which led to this controversial decision which was perfectly summed up by Alan Shearer, Newcastle United’s biggest legend.
Alan Shearer took it to ‘X’ to give his opinion on the controversial decision. He wrote: “Do me a f**king favour man. What a load of sh*t. #VAR.” The former England international wasn’t alone, as the majority of the fans on social media agreed that the English side was robbed in the clash.
Do me a fucking favour man. What a load of shit. #VAR
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) November 28, 2023
The result puts Newcastle United in 3rd place in Group F which was deemed as the Group of Death at the start of the season. The English club will travel to Milan to face AC Milan in the last fixture. They need a win against Milan and hope that Dortmund defeat PSG in their fixture to give them any hope of progressing to the knockout rounds of the European competition.