Newcastle United were 'hard done by' with a 'criminal' penalty decision in their opening-day defeat to West Ham.
That's the view of both Sky Sports pundits Michael Dawson and Micah Richards, who believe referee Martin Atkinson and the VAR both made a 'mistake' in penalising Jacob Murphy for the foul.
It had been a positive start to the afternoon for the Magpies who led 2-1 at the break. Callum Wilson opened the scoring after just five minutes, and Murphy's header restored the host's advantage following Aaron Cresswell's equaliser.
However, the Hammers were much improved after the interval and changed the course of the game in 13 second-half minutes.
Said Benrahma equalised with a header, and David Moyes' side were then handed the opportunity to take the lead after Murphy was deemed to have fouled Pablo Fornals just after the hour-mark.
Freddie Woodman denied the initial effort from Michail Antonio, but was powerless to stop Tomas Soucek's rebound.
Replays indicate Murphy made contact with the ball first, but the VAR check decided not to overturn Atkinson's on-field decision.
Antonio would add a fourth just minutes later, and pundits Dawson and Richards sympathised with the Magpies for the 'soft' penalty award in their post-match verdict.
Former Tottenham defender Dawson told Sky Sports: "The ball from Fornals is magnificent but when the ball comes back to Jacob Murphy, for me that is not a penalty.
"I feel Newcastle have been so hard done by, he takes the touch and he just stretches and you can see when it’s slowed down that he touches the ball before Fornals. That for me is criminal and is not a penalty, so so soft."
Former Manchester City defender Richards added: "We want the game to be free flowing but that is a mistake there. That is never a penalty in a million years.
"All he has to do is go and have a look at it and that is the problem with referee’s because they don’t want to send them over and put doubt in their minds but that is no way a penalty. "
