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‘Bizarre’ – Howe responds to Arteta’s refereeing rant

Published

11 months ago

November 5, 2023

‘Bizarre’ – Newcastle boss Eddie Howe responds to Mikel Arteta claiming decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winner against Arsenal was ’embarrassing’

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has reacted to Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta’s rant about refereeing after Anthony Gordon’s controversial winner.

Gordon scored his fourth goal of the year in the second half as Newcastle triumphed 1-0. The strike was first awarded after three VAR reviews due to the ball going out of play, a foul by Joelinton on Gabriel, and Gordon’s offside. After the game, the Arsenal manager expressed his indignation at the decision to the media.

Howe disagreed with the Spaniard, as he said [via Shields Gazette]: “We’re stood by the side of the pitch seeing VAR on the screen but with no pictures. I haven’t seen anything other than what I saw at the time. It looked a good goal to me.

“Maybe he’s seen something I haven’t. I’ve only seen it with the naked eye, live. I had no idea what was going on with the VAR checks either so we were in the lap of the gods really waiting like everyone else in the stadium. With every check it was going through, you’re thinking they’re going to find something wrong with it. It’s very bizarre to have three VAR checks but the goal was given.”

The loss was the Gunners’ first of the season as Arteta’s men sit in third in the standings three points behind defending champions Manchester City and two points behind fellow North Londoners, Tottenham Hotspur who have a game in hand.