New VAR protocol seen just once before in England leaves fans divided as they claim Newcastle ‘robbed’ vs Arsenal
FANS were left divided by a new VAR protocol used for only the second time in England.
During Newcastle's League Cup semi-final win against Arsenal, Alexander Isak raced through on goal after just four minutes before slotting in to seemingly make it 1-0.
However, the goal was chalked off by VAR following an offside check.
Referee Simon Hooper then announced the decision over the stadium speakers, only the second time this has been seen after it was used during Tottenham's League Cup first-leg with Liverpool last month.
Despite the announcement, fans at home were originally not shown the offside lines being drawn to confirm the decision.
Fans rushed to social media to give their say on the new protocol, with some furious at the goal being ruled out without complete clarity being provided.
One fan said: "The referee mic’d up. This is what happens when you let yanks anywhere near our beautiful game."
A second said: "Love this new referee announcement. Well done."
A third said: "They didn’t even draw any lines just straight offside lol."
Another said: "Newcastle robbed."
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A fifth added: "That is a daylight robbery against Newcastle."
A sixth said: "This referee live mic in is too funny. Sounds like a little kid breathing in his mic on Fortnite haha."
Another said: "Ref looked absolutely petrified there, not sure they signed up for public speaking in front of 50k."
An eighth said: "Referee on the mic is a complete waste of time, why doesn’t the ref announce a VAR check immediately after the goal is scored if they doubt the validity of it. As it stands there is still a 2/3 min, and more, delay in the stadium where no one knows what’s going on, nothing's changed."
The offside lines were later shown to fans back home, revealing how far Isak had strayed offside before the disallowed goal.
In a statement on the decision, the EFL said: "Isak’s goal was initially awarded on-field.
"VAR checked and determined that he was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed."
Isak was involved once again later on when Newcastle did make a breakthrough.
The Swede raced through on goal behind William Saliba seconds after Martin Odegaard fired the ball against the post.
His curling effort beat David Raya but hit the post before it cannoned back out to where Jacob Murphy was for him to tap into an open net, with his shot amazingly also glancing the post on the way in.
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Anthony Gordon capitalised on a Raya mistake to make it 2-0 which is how the game ended, meaning a 4-0 aggregate win for the Toon.
Newcastle will meet Liverpool or Tottenham in the final.
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