Chelsea, so ragged before the break, emerged transformed after half-time. Their revival was ignited by a moment of real quality from Reece James, who curled a sublime free-kick over the wall and into the corner. Suddenly, belief surged through the visitors. Newcastle, who had looked so comfortable, began to retreat and the contest opened up. What followed was a sequence of events that would leave the home crowd incandescent. Midway through the second half, Gordon chased a loose ball into the penalty area and was met by Chalobah. The Chelsea defender barged across him, sending Gordon tumbling towards the advertising hoardings. St James’ Park erupted, players surrounded the referee, and VAR was swiftly engaged.
Yet, to widespread disbelief, no penalty was awarded. The Premier League later explained on X: "The referee’s call of no penalty to Newcastle was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the contact from Chalobah on Gordon deemed to be side-to-side in a shielding action and the ball within playing distance."
Ally McCoist was unequivocal on commentary, branding it "a stonewall penalty," while Joe Cole described the challenge as "too much aggression". Even former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin admitted it was "risky with bells on it".
Meanwhile, retired Premier League official Darren Cann told BBC Sport: “At normal speed I can understand why the referee didn’t award a penalty. Chalobah certainly takes a risk in making such a challenge because there’s clear contact with Gordon. So the decision was right to be reviewed by VAR, who came to the conclusion that a clear and obvious error had not been made and stayed with the on-field decision of no penalty. I do think that had a penalty been given, I believe the VAR would have stuck with that decision too. So this comes down to 'referee’s call'".
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