Eddie Howe said he had to “control” himself after Newcastle‘s Champions League prospects suffered a major setback when Kylian Mbappé scored a contentious 98th minute penalty to earn a 1-1 draw for Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes.
Referee Szymon Marciniak — the man who refereed the 2022 World Cup Final — awarded a penalty following the intervention of VAR after the ball struck the arm of Newcastle defender Tino Livramento following Ousmane Dembélé‘s cross.
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The ball had initially hit Livramento’s chest before bouncing onto his arm, but Marciniak awarded the penalty after reviewing the incident at the pitchside VAR monitor.
Howe called it a “poor decision” but said that Newcastle must still believe they can qualify for the round of 16.
“Yes I do,” Howe said, when asked if he felt a sense of injustice at the decision. “In my opinion it’s not the right decision, but you fear the worst when it goes to the monitor.
“The speed of it and the ricochet, slowed down, looks different. The ball hits Tino’s chest and then hits his arm, but it’s not an unnatural movement.
“It was a poor decision with so little time left, but there’s nothing we can do with it now.
“I have to control myself, that’s my job. It doesn’t do any good to lose control of what you think and say.”
