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Antoine Semenyo was denied a second goal by VAR in a Man City shirt in their Carabao Cup win over Newcastle United at St. James' Park
Gary Neville believes Pep Guardiola was spot on after airing his grievances following Antoine Semenyo's disallowed goal against Newcastle United. The new Man City signing had already opened the scoring at the Etihad Stadium and thought he'd doubled his tally just a few minutes later.
The Ghana international flicked Tijjani Reijnders corner into the back of the net beyond Nick Pope, only for Stuart Attwell on VAR to recommend Chris Kavanagh head to the monitor.
The referee then proceeded to rule out the goal with Erling Haaland deemed to be in an offside position and adjudged to have impacted Newcastle's ability to clear the ball.
Guardiola was left fuming after the full-time whistle, despite his side taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg following Rayan Cherki's later finish.
Speaking on the The Overlap - Stick to Football podcast, Neville said: "I thought [it was] the worst decision I have ever seen. I think Pep was absolutely spot on. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. He [Haaland] was never getting near that goalkeeper."
Former United midfielder Roy Keane questioned whether Haaland could have been smarter with his positioning, but did criticise VAR for taking a long time to come to a decision.
Neville said: "The keeper was nowhere near Haaland, the defender would never have stopped that."
"It was one of those with VAR that winds everyone up because it’s the tiniest little thing," ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher added.
Neville responded: "Newcastle aren’t quite getting results but every time I watch them, I like them. I like watching Newcastle play, I think they play the right way."
Speaking after the full-time whistle, Guardiola said: "I will say it now. I would like to know why VAR in 60 minutes in the Premier League game at Newcastle when we lost 2-1, it was 0-0 and it was an insane penalty on Schar for Phil Foden and not even a consideration. And at 20 minutes there is an unbelievable penalty from a shot from Jeremy Doku that hit Thiaw’s hand, and not even VAR.
"Today four people were not able to decide because the line was I don’t know, but the second goal that Newcastle scored (in November) the line was perfect. I’m not suspicious of that in 10 years. I didn’t say anything when we lost 2-1 here.
"I didn’t say anything in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace when it was a red card after 30 minutes for [Dean] Henderson. Did I say anything? No. It’s okay. It’s fine.
"In the same stadium where VAR didn’t intervene? Take a look at 60 minutes and 20 minutes. Take a look at the two penalties. Coming here and winning 1-0 or 2-0 is a big advantage and a big difference for us. I don’t give any credit from Newcastle.
"They won deservedly the Premier League game but why did it intervene in those two moments and today it was more than six minutes and they were not able to discuss with the referee to do it? They will call me and explain it to me."
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