Invited to a press conference this Friday, Newcastle coach Eddie Howe made a new rant against the penalty converted by Kylian Mbappé at the very end of the game.
The Magpies don’t digest. While Newcastle held on for a capital victory against PSG on Tuesday evening at the Parc des Princes, in the race for the round of 16 of the Champions League, the English team were caught behind in added time following a controversial penalty awarded to the Parisians and transformed by Kylian Mbappé. A penalty whistled after intervention by the VAR, while the referee of the match Szymon Marciniak initially did not flinch.
After having uttered a rant against the refereeing just after the match, Eddie Howe spoke out loud again this Friday at a press conference. The Magpies coach believes that Szymon Marciniak was influenced by VAR.
“The referee made the right decision”
“In what state of mind will he consult the images, asked Eddie Howe. Is he strong enough to say: “In my opinion there was no penalty and that’s still what I think. » Or is he obliged to award the penalty since the VAR considers that it is whistled? This is a problem with VAR. Not enough power is given to decisions made on the ground. And the referee had made the right decision in this case. »
“It was not the referee but the VAR who decided that there was a penalty, he continued. I’m not going to be mad at someone who hasn’t made a decision. If a referee makes a decision and then goes to look at the footage, I would love for the referee to look at it from his point of view rather than having the decision imposed on him. What’s the point of going to see the images if you already know what’s going to happen? More than 99% of referees who see the images end up validating the VAR decision, rather than maintaining their opinion. This would be a good development for VAR: letting the referee decide, independently when he consults the images. We must give more responsibilities to the field referee. VAR can help by allowing him to review these images. But let the referee make the decision. »
