VAR appeared to ignore a huge incident involving Newcastle United’s Fabian Schar that saw the defender forced off with concussion.
Newcastle dominated the game last night against top-four hopefuls Arsenal in front of a jam-packed St James’ Park and deservedly picked up all three points and recorded what was their most impressive result of the season as Arsenal were the first top-six side to lose against the Magpies.
Should this have been a red card?
Yes!
No!
The Magpies were forced into an early change last night just minutes into the second half with the scoreline 0-0 as Eddie Nketiah led with his arm and elbow and caught Schar on the head, which sent him crashing to the ground connecting head first with the floor, leaving him concussed.
Schar being knocked out by a stray arm was seemingly not deemed enough by VAR to warrant Nketiah being handed a red card, despite the Switzerland international being forced off and potentially seeing his season brought to a premature end.
TIF Thoughts on this ignored incident…
Sav Mondo, a Newcastle fan who features sometimes alongside Steve Wraith on NUFC Matters, also felt it was a red card, as well as joking that it deserves a night in the cells.
While Nketiah had every right to go for the ball, the fact that he is clearly nowhere near it when Schar heads it away and ends up crashing into the defender could have easily been deemed as serious foul play by the VAR team, with the Arsenal striker escaping with a booking.
Luckily for Schar, Eddie Howe has claimed that he’s hopeful the defender will be fit for the game on Sunday against Burnley, although it will depend on the concussion protocol being followed, though we doubt Howe would have been so calm and easy on the subject had the Magpies ended up not winning the game after their star centre-back went off injured.
In other news: ‘Epitomised Newcastle’s remarkable season’ – Journalist lauds ‘impressive’ NUFC ace