Referee right not to award Newcastle penalty - panel

The referee was correct not to award Newcastle a penalty during Wednesday's defeat at Manchester United, says an independent panel.

Sofyan Amrabat stepped on the heel of Magpies winger Anthony Gordon as he ran into the box late in the first half, with United leading 1-0.

The hosts went on to win 3-2 and the incident, which Gordon said was "a clear penalty", has now been reviewed by the Premier League's Key Match Incident Panel.

In the verdict, which has been seen by BBC Sport, one panellist believed the "left foot of the defender impedes the attacker on the back of his heel " and was enough to warrant a penalty.

However, the other four panellists felt otherwise and the non intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR) was unanimously supported.

"[Amrabat] goes down my Achilles and pushes me in the back," said Gordon. "I don't mind the referee getting it wrong on the pitch, but I don't understand the point of VAR."

The panel also felt Brighton should have been awarded a penalty during Wednesday's 2-1 home defeat by Chelsea.

The referee did not deem Malo Gusto's challenge on Simon Adingra as a foul and four panellists disagreed with the on-field decision because "the defender's leg dangled into the path of the attacker who cannot go anywhere else whilst in possession".

The other panellist felt Adingra initiated the contact and a 4-1 majority felt the VAR was incorrect to not intervene.