Premier League panel cast verdict on three Leeds United vs Newcastle United incidents
Leeds United’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United has been looked at by the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel.
Leeds United were correctly denied an early penalty during last week’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United, according to the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel.
Elland Road saw huge claims for an early spot-kick waved away by referee Michael Salisbury following an apparent handball by Matias Fernandez-Pardo. The Newcastle striker’s arm made contact with a bouncing ball following a half-cleared corner.
A VAR review adjudged the ball to have inadvertently hit Fernandez-Pardo’s arm and confirmed the on-field call of no penalty. The Premier League’s KMI panel have since published their verdict on the decision, voting unanimously at 5:0 that it was correct.
The KMI panel wrote: “The referee's call of no penalty for a potential handball offence against Fernandez-Pardo was supported with his arms in an expected position given the bounce of the ball. There was no movement of the arm towards the ball.”
Later on in the first-half, it was Newcastle complaining to referee Salisbury after a coming together between Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Sven Botman. Leeds were 2-0 up at the time with the Leeds striker climbing high to head home a James Justin cross following Lewis Miley’s own-goal from an Ao Tanaka strike.
Newcastle believed a swinging Calvert-Lewin arm collided with Botman and could have resulted in a sending off. But he was booked, with VAR backing that on-field decision and the KMI panel once again voting 5:0 that the decision to not to produce a red card was correct.
The panel’s verdict said: “The referee's call of no red card for violent conduct against Calvert-Lewin was supported. Calvert-Lewin stood his ground and used his arms to protect the space. There was no movement of the arm towards Botman.”
Midway through the second-half, Newcastle wanted a penalty after Tarik Muharemovic's tackle on Harvey Barnes. Once again, referee Salisbury waved away claims and VAR review backed his decision.
Interestingly, one member of the panel - made up of one Premier League representative, one Pro Ref representative and three independent ex-players or managers - voted that Newcastle should have been awarded a spot-kick. The panel wrote: “The referee's call of no penalty for a potential foul by Muharemovic on Barnes was supported, 4:1, with the contact not meeting the threshold for a foul.”