Howard Webb dissects key controversial decision in recent Newcastle United match | OneFootball

Howard Webb, PGMOL and the Premier League have opened up discussions between the referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for key incidents this season.

In this latest instalment of “Match Officials Mic’d Up” in 2024/25, Howard Webb, chief operating officer at PGMOL, the organisation that oversees the League’s match officials, has discussed a number of recent incidents.

The idea is to go through the conversations between the match officials to give fans a greater knowledge of how decisions are made.

The officials on the pitch do not hear all the conversations from the VAR hub in Stockley Park.

Amongst the recent incidents that Howard Webb has dissected, is one key one involving Newcastle United, from the recent victory over Nottingham Forest.

Premier League report on Howard Webb looking at the penalty decision that ended up with Alexander Isak scoring the spot-kick to make it 3-1, Newcastle eventually defeating Forest 4-3 on 23 February 2025:

Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina leaps to block Lewis Hall’s cross, and as he jumps, he spins his body, leading to the ball being blocked by his arm.

What the match officials did:

VAR checked the on-field incident and recommended referee Jarred Gillett to go to the Referee Review Area (RRA). Upon review, Gillett awarded a penalty for handball.

Michael Owen:

“Not many penalties given for this type of thing this season, which I’ve really liked. A big change from previous seasons. But they all got involved in this one. The right thing to do?”

Howard Webb:

“Yeah, we’ve continued to deliver the officiating of handball in the way that the game asked us to, less is more, you know, not penalising players who are moving in a pretty natural way. We know the arms move as players move.

“Of course, trying to identify those situations where there’s a clear, deliberate action to handle or the player puts his arms in a really unnatural position, making himself bigger that’s not justifiable.

“We think this one falls into that last category. As Aina jumps, his arm comes away from his body, blocks the ball, blocks the cross by Hall, and we think this is a good use of VAR to rectify a miss on the field. And, yeah, for us, it’s a clear handball offence.”

Newcastle 4 Nottingham Forest 3 – Sunday 23 February 2025 2pm

Newcastle United:

Miley 23, Murphy 25, Isak 33 pen, 34

Forest:

Hudson-Odoi 6, Milenkovic 63, Yates 90

Possession was Newcastle 57% Forest 43%

Total shots were Newcastle 13 Forest 17

Shots on target were Newcastle 5 Forest 5

Corners were Newcastle 7 Forest 6

Touches in the box Newcastle 34 Forest 26