Neville’s VAR Logic Leaves Toon Army Seething After Old Trafford Flashpoint

Old Trafford witnessed a classic Premier League controversy: Newcastle chasing an equaliser, the ball crashing toward goal, a defender’s arm high in the air — and no penalty. Manchester United edged it 1-0 thanks to Patrick Dorgu’s crisp first-half volley past Aaron Ramsdale, but the post-match noise all centred on one decision and Gary Neville’s take on it.

The flashpoint that lit the fuse

Midway through the second half, a corner was flicked on to the far stick where Fabian Schär leathered a shot that cannoned into Lisandro Martinez from close range. Martinez’s arm was raised and the Newcastle players appealed in unison. Referee Anthony Taylor waved play on, and after a lengthy check, VAR Stuart Attwell declined to intervene.

On the broadcast, Neville outlined why the officials were likely to stick with the on-field call: Martinez was grappling during the set-piece, his arms already elevated in the tussle, and that context — so the logic goes — explained the hand position and reduced the case for a spot-kick. Peter Drury added that the governing view aligned with that rationale, hence no overturn.

In short: arm up, contact made, but the wrestling context saved the defender — no penalty given.

Was it the right call under Law 12?

Handball remains the game’s greyest area. The law talks about making the body “unnaturally bigger,” expectation of contact, proximity, and deflections. An arm above head height is almost always asking for trouble, yet VAR tends to back the on-field decision unless it’s clearly wrong. Here, the distance was short, the shot powerful, and officials leaned on the grappling angle to justify that arm position. You can see how they arrived there — but you can also see why Newcastle feel stitched up.

From a pundit’s perch, it’s one of those that gets given one week and binned the next. If Taylor points to the spot live, I doubt VAR overturns that either. That’s the consistency headache: the same incident lives or dies on the first whistle.

Newcastle’s frustration boils over

The Magpies had every right to feel they’d earned something from their second-half surge. Anthony Gordon buzzed, Lewis Hall rattled the frame with a thunderous hit, and United were wobbling. Then comes the handball shout, no award, and fury in the away end.

Supporters and journalists lined up online to question the explanation. One prominent voice quipped that claiming “he was already shoving someone” as the reason it’s not handball might be a new high-water mark for mental gymnastics. Others joked that having your hands up because you’re wrestling is now a “natural position.” The broader theme? People are tired of trying to decode where the line actually is.

The bigger picture

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Newcastle felt aggrieved recently over another high-profile call involving Anthony Gordon, and that history only sharpens the sting. Eddie Howe will keep schtum publicly, but privately he’ll want the same thing every manager wants: clarity. United, for their part, won’t care a jot — Dorgu’s sweet strike banked the points and the table doesn’t list xHandball.

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Pundit’s verdict

Give it? I would have. The arm’s high, the shot’s goal-bound, and grappling is a given at set-pieces — you can’t let that become a catch-all exemption. But with VAR you live by the “clear and obvious” sword. The on-field call ruled the day, and Neville’s read of the process mirrors why. That won’t soothe the Toon Army, who leave Manchester not just empty-handed, but with another chapter in the never-ending handball rulebook saga.