Matthias Jaissle 'disagrees' with Liverpool penalty as Premier League issue statement | OneFootball

Newcastle were seconds away from starting new season with a huge win

Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle has labelled the penalty decision that denied his side victory against Liverpool as “soft”.

The Magpies, following a difficult summer, were seconds away from starting their Premier League campaign with a win over Liverpool at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon.

With 96 minutes on the clock, Newcastle lead 2-1 thanks to Joe Willock’s instant impact off the bench in the wake of the Cody Gakpo equaliser which had cancelled out Anthony Elanga’s first-half opener.

However, after Lewis Hall had been adjudged to have brought down substitute Victor Munoz in the area, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up to emphatically convert a stoppage-time penalty.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Jaissle felt Liverpool were fortunate to get the decision go in their favour.

“I think you call it here a really soft one,” the German tactician said. “If you give that then there will be so many penalties in the future.

“I am not a fan of that, I have to say. I disagree but more I cannot say.”

The Premier League’s Match Centre have since confirmed that the penalty was awarded because Hall did not play the ball and made "clear contact" with Munoz.

A statement reads" "The referee’s call of penalty for the challenge by Hall on Munoz was checked and confirmed by VAR.

"REF: “He doesn’t play the ball. He makes clear contact”.

"VAR: “It’s knee into thigh contact. Confirming the on-field decision of penalty”.

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, felt his side did not deserve to lose on Tyneside.

"I don't think we deserve to lose the game today and I value the effort from the players," the Spaniard told Sky Sports. "I haven't looked at the stats, but I'm sure we will have more chances, more everything.

If you give that then there will be so many penalties in the future

Matthias Jaissle

"I think we were arriving, probably in the first half, we were not finishing anything.

"We were having a lot of balls on the edge and we were trying to overplay a little bit. And we had just to shoot, shoot, even the first ball we got it.

"I think the players coming from the bench gave us energy. I don't know if they played better, worse, but they gave us energy. And you can feel the way we want to play, everyone is not going to last 90 minutes. So we need this energy from the ones coming from the bench and I think today it happened."