Newcastle United were burned by a late and controversial Paris Saint-Germain penalty to set up a tense final round in Group F of the Champions League on Wednesday (AEDT).
PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe buried a spot kick in the eighth minute of stoppage time in the 1-1 draw after Tino Livramento was found guilty of handball during a VAR review at Parc des Princes in Paris.
“There’s going to be a lot of scrutiny that’s going to come about that handball because I just thought that was a horrible decision,” Australian great Mark Bosnich said on Stan Sport.
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“The fact that it came off his body and then hit his arm – and I really don’t think you can say his arm is in an unnatural position.
“I’d love for somebody to come on from UEFA to explain why and how they gave that.”
Ousmane Dembele flicked the ball up and it bounced off Livramento’s chest and onto his arm.
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Referee Szymon Marciniak gave a penalty after watching the incident on video review and Mbappe blasted the penalty past Nick Pope.
“I think it’s harsh,” European expert Mark Langdon said on Stan Sport.
“But what I would say is that these are given, I’d say nine times out of 10, in the Champions League. I think it’s because the arm was extended out – in the Premier League, maybe it would be different.
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“I would say that however fortunate PSG were to get that penalty, they definitely deserved something out of the game because they had 31 shots, 73 per cent possession, so many chances.”
Alexander Isak had given Newcastle the lead in the 24th minute when he scored on a rebound, making up for his earlier miss when he shot over the bar from close range.
Miguel Almiron sent in a speculative shot from the edge of the box and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could only push it away to Isak’s feet for an easy finish.
PSG wasted chance after chance and Newcastle seemed on course to pull off another unlikely win to follow the 4-1 victory over the same opposition last month.
Newcastle was missing 11 players to various injuries and Sandro Tonali’s gambling ban.
Manager Eddie Howe picked an unchanged team from the lineup that beat Chelsea 4-1 at the weekend with 17-year-old midfielder Lewis Miley included.
Howe did not use any of his seven bench players, who included two goalkeepers and four teenagers.
The other two bench spots were left empty in an illustration of just how thin Newcastle’s squad had become.
Borussia Dortmund are top of a highly competitive Group F on 10 points, ahead of PSG (seven) and Newcastle and AC Milan (both five).