Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has been sharing his thoughts on the incident that took place between Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire during the Tyneside club’s recent 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
Speaking exclusively to This Is Futbol, Halsey was asked whether or not Newcastle should have been awarded a penalty when Maguire charged into Lascelles in the penalty box to block him from attempting to win the ball in the air ahead of United goalkeeper David De Gea.
In response, Halsey had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I’ve got to say when I first saw that live, I thought that’s a penalty and I was very surprised at the commentary on BT Sport never even mentioned it, they never even revisited it, so I was very surprised.
“Once again, you’ve got to look at the awareness of the referee Paul Tierney, he’s got to be looking in there. You’ve got to be looking at that situation because the ball, although he’s not denying a goalscoring opportunity, but, it’s a challenge off the ball and Harry Maguire knows exactly what he’s doing, and I think Newcastle can count themselves very unlucky that they weren’t awarded a penalty in that situation.
“I don’t think VAR are going to get involved in that because it’s subjective, isn’t it? I mean, is that a clear and obvious error? It’s one of those, isn’t it?
“As you say, you don’t want VAR to get involved in every sort of incident but on that situation, I think the referee Paul Tierney has got to be seeing that and I thought that’s a penalty and a caution for Harry Maguire for reckless use of the arm, I really do.”
Do you think Maguire should have been sent off for his block on Lascelles?
Yes
No
Goals from Marcus Rashford, Dan James and Bruno Fernandes secured the three points for the Manchester club on the night, leaving Steve Bruce’s side in 17th place in the Premier League table, just three points above the relegation zone.
Despite the disappointing result, if the referee had seen Maguire’s collision with Lascelles and decided to send him off, there’s every chance that the result could have changed.
Moving forward, despite not getting the luck from the referee with this incident, Newcastle will have to start winning some games to move away from the danger of the relegation zone before the end of the season.