Why Newcastle equaliser at Tottenham was controversially allowed to stand by VAR despite clear Joelinton handball seconds before cool Anthony Gordon finish - explained

In a frenetic start to Saturday's clash between Tottenham and Newcastle, Spurs opened the scoring through Dominic Solanke after just three minutes. But they were swiftly pegged back, within two minutes, as Anthony Gordon slid a calm finish beyond debutant Brandon Austin in goal, who is deputising for injured first-team stars Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster. However, Spurs protested vociferously as replays showed that in the build-up, Joelinton handled the ball as he intercepted a pass from Lucas Bergvall. Despite that, VAR allowed the goal to stand and the decision has now been explained.

The Premier League Match Centre posted on X: "The referee’s call of goal was confirmed by VAR, who checked for a potential handball by Joelinton in the build-up and deemed that his arm was by his side, in a natural position and the contact was accidental."

Spurs have struggled for fluency in recent weeks and sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table, having won just one of their last five encounters. Newcastle, by comparison, are aiming for Europe already, as they began the day in fifth.

Spurs play Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday. Newcastle face Arsenal in the other semi-final, with the first leg on Tuesday. It remains to be seen if the two sides will meet again at Wembley.