Howard Webb has said that Joelinton's goal against West Ham United was an example of VAR working effectively.
The Brazilian scored Newcastle's second goal in their 5-1 win against West Ham at the London Stadium last month, with the Magpies midfielder initially flagged offside by the linesman after he put the ball into the net, before the decision was reviewed by the video assistant referee at Stockley Park.
After using crosshairs to put the lines on Joelinton and West Ham full-back Emerson Palmieri, the decision was made to overturn the on-field decision, with referee Craig Pawson urged to award the goal.
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There was some initial confusion after the assistant referee had delayed raising his flag until Joelinton had put the ball in the goal, but speaking on Sky Sports, PGMOL chief refereeing officer Webb explained the reasoning behind the decision as in-game audio of what the officials said at the time was played.
And Webb said that he felt the correct call was made, with praise for the way the officials handled the situation, both on the field and using the VAR.
"They will be disappointed they get it wrong on the field," he said, speaking on Sky Sports. They are judged by the decisions they make on the field. Of course, we have VAR as a safety net, but the officials want to get the decision right on the field in real-time.
"This one looks miles offside. If you are watching in the stadium or on TV you are probably thinking the assistant referee needs to put his flag up earlier. Why delay because he's miles off?
"We don't want the officials to delay putting up the flag when necessary. When it's really clear to them in their professional judgement then they stick the flag up. It avoids a clash with the goalkeeper, for example.
"But they also know that what might look clear to everyone else is really quite tight. These are specialists in their role, and they learn to delay the flag if it is close and if there is an attacking opportunity because they might have got it wrong.
"It's not often, but they do sometimes like this example, and it is a really good one to show why we delay the flag."
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