'Robbed,' say pundits, after a 'disgraceful' penalty call

Newcastle United’s hearts were broken on Wednesday night when they were forced to settle for a point at Parc des

Princes after Kylian Mbappé converted a controversial penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

The Magpies had dominated the game since Alexander Isak opened the scoring in the 24th minute. Despite PSG’s pressure, Eddie Howe’s team put their bodies on the line to fight for a hard-earned win, giving them a huge boost in their Champions League run. Late drama, however, saw referee Szymon Marciniak award PSG a penalty following a handball decision against Tino Livramento.

A VAR review determined that the Newcastle ace had handled the ball inside the box, despite the fact that the ball struck his chest first before coming off his elbow.

Mbappé made no mistake from the spot, and Newcastle were sent home feeling as if their victory had been robbed from them. Following the game, commentators Ally McCoist and Jermaine Jenas had a lot to say about the incident.

“That is absolutely never a penalty,” McCoist said during the TNT Sports post-game debrief with Laura Woods. “If we are giving penalty kicks for that in the biggest club competition on the planet, it’s a disgrace.”

Jenas echoed his colleague’s displeasure, calling the penalty “one of the most disgraceful decisions I’ve seen in a long, long time.”

“It’s a deflection off of his body and onto his arm.” That is not a penalty in any way,” he continued. “You can clearly see it hit Livramento’s chest, onto his arm; what should he do with his arms?” I’m enraged, I really am. You have the impression that you have been duped.

“Don’t get me wrong, they [Newcastle] can still go through, but they’ve been robbed.” They’ve been completely duped.”

After a few minutes, Howe joined the conversation and admitted he was’still coming to terms’ with the decision against his team, but he was’very pleased’ with the performance his players gave. He also admitted that he did not believe it was a penalty.

“It hit his chest first, and I believe that’s the key. I still don’t think it would be a penalty if it hit his hands first because of the close proximity, but you could make a stronger case. I don’t believe there is a case where it hits another part of his body first and his hands are low.