Newcastle denied by shocking call while Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez underline Man City importance - Champions League hits and misses
A dubious penalty denies Newcastle after impressive performance in Paris; Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez underline their importance to Pep Guardiola in Man City's comeback win over RB Leipzig; Celtic once again come up short in the Champions League
Wednesday 29 November 2023 00:04, UK
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Paris Saint-Germain scored with their 30th shot of the game and a number of those were clear opportunities so Newcastle could well have been punished earlier than they were. But it was the manner of the equaliser, a gift from the officials, that will so grate.
Kylian Mbappe did not breach the Newcastle back line with a bit of brilliance. He was handed the ball and able to convert from the penalty spot not because of a Newcastle error either. Just a desperately cruel penalty call that required a VAR review to make it happen.
The decision to award a spot-kick for the ball striking Tino Livramento's arm after bouncing off his chest would have been inexplicable regardless — nothing was unnatural about his body shape. It is called running. But it was even stranger given earlier events.
There had already been a VAR check when the ball hit the arm of Lewis Miley having bounced off another body part. On that occasion, the referee was not asked to view the monitor. It was no penalty either but the reaction time for Livramento was even less.
«It is a disgusting decision,» said Tim Sherwood, watching the game for Sky Sports. «It is ridiculous. It is impossible.» Eddie Howe appeared bereft afterwards. So close and denied not by the genius of Mbappe but by a genuinely bizarre decision.
Adam Bate
Phil Foden said he'd never seen Man City play as bad as they did in the first half against RB
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