West Ham led 3-1 early in the second half and appeared to be comfortably heading towards an important away victory in the Premier League. But Alexander Isak’s second spot-kick of the game, contentiously awarded after a VAR review, swung the momentum in Newcastle’s favour.
Substitute Harvey Barnes scored twice in added time, first finishing after running through on goal before hammering home a sumptuous strike from 25 yards. But the Hammers were furious after the comeback was prompted after a penalty decision that they felt was soft.
On-loan midfielder Phillips attempted to clear the ball from the penalty area, only for Gordon to get ahead of him – causing Phillips to strike through the heel of the winger. Many felt that the decision was unfair and tuned into Match of the Day to see the pundits’ verdict.
However, the BBC’s Premier League highlights show – which was hosted by Alex Scott instead of Gary Lineker on Saturday night – glossed over the decision. Former Sky Sports anchor Stelling slammed the decision of the production team as ‘terrible’.
Stelling tweeted: “Interesting that MOTD decided the second Newcastle pen was not worth discussing despite it being probably the most controversial decision of the weekend. Not the fault [by the way] of Alex Scott, just [a] terrible production decision.”
Newcastle icon Shearer has now quipped that it was a “certain penalty” and reminded Stelling that such shows are limited to a very strict timing schedule.
The ex-striker replied to Stelling on Sunday, saying: “Morning Jeff. My guess is they didn’t show it because it was a certain penalty and as you know time is limited on the show! Hope all well.”
West Ham boss David Moyes felt that referee Rob Jones made the wrong decision after being advised to review the footage. He said: “I think a couple of decisions the referee made on penalty kicks. I think the second one, Gordon restricts Kalvin Phillips from kicking the ball. I actually think it’s the wrong decision.
“We had so many things that didn’t go in our favour today but there were a lot of good things the players did.”
Newcastle’s Howe said of the game: “It was a brilliant advert for the Premier League. At 3-1 down it looked a really difficult point in our season but the players remained calm. They’re incredible professionals and that’s an incredible win for us.”
