Gary Neville explains why Newcastle penalty against…

Gary Neville explains why Newcastle penalty against Arsenal was overturned after VAR referral

Arsenal were handed an early scare in their trip to Newcastle United on Sunday when referee Chris Kavanagh awarded the hosts a penalty for handball.

The Gunners travelled to Tyneside looking to cut the gap to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table to only one point. Pep Guardiola's men stretched their lead to four points on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Leeds United and still have a game in hand.

Mikel Arteta's side came to Newcastle with last season's heartbreak at St James' Park in the back of their mind and nearly found themselves behind early on when a penalty was awarded for handball off Jakub Kiwior.

A well-worked corner from Newcastle resulted in Bruno Guimaraes' shot hitting Kiwior's arm inside the penalty area. However, after a lengthy VAR check, the decision was overturned after replays showed the ball had struck Kiwior's thigh before hitting his arm.

During Sky Sports' coverage of the game, former Premier League defender Gary Neville explained why the decision was made. "Kiwior looks sheepish.. he tries to pull his arm away, but it is the pace of the ball and the distance... he will get away with that, he must make the ref have a look at that again.

"The Newcastle players are having a right go at the ref, but they have not seen that it hit his leg first. The ref and the officials at Stockley Park have got that right."

According to the FA rules, handball is when a player 'deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball' or 'touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger.

'A player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised'.

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