{"id":474242,"date":"2025-12-27T04:19:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T04:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474242\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T04:19:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T04:19:21","slug":"ex-refs-chief-reacts-to-controversial-lisandro-martinez-footage-in-man-united-vs-newcastle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474242\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-refs chief reacts to controversial Lisandro Martinez footage in Man United vs Newcastle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lisandro<\/p>\n

Credit: Getty Images \/ Sky Sports<\/p>\n

\"Harri <\/p>\n

Fri 26 December 2025 22:32, UK <\/p>\n

Anthony Taylor was right not to award a penalty in Newcastle United\u2019s favour after an incident involving Man United\u2019s Lisandro Martinez.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is according to former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA referee, Keith Hackett<\/a>, who exclusively told Football Insider<\/strong> that there was not enough evidence to point to the spot despite a VAR check at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n

Gary Neville was critical of Eddie Howe<\/a> during another controversial incident on Friday, 26 December, as Aaron Ramsdale<\/a> feigned injury to allow for the Magpies to install a tactical switch.<\/p>\n

It was all in vain, though, as Patrick Dorgu<\/a> volleyed home the only goal of the game in the 24th minute, sealing an important three points to move the Red Devils up to fifth in the Premier League table.<\/p>\n

Howe\u2019s side, of course, were pushing for an equaliser for the entire second half, and many thought they were going to be given a route from 12 yards after a handball appeal against Man United<\/a>\u2018s No.6.<\/p>\n

\"RefereeCredit: Getty ImagesAnthony Taylor applauded as Lisandro Martinez escapes penalty<\/p>\n

Martinez has recently returned from injury<\/a>, and the Argentine was locked in a battle with Malick Thiaw<\/a> when the ball struck his arm, before he then smashed clear.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider<\/strong> about why the handball was not awarded, the former referee said: \u201cThe referee has to judge if the action by the player is deliberate when deciding that an offence has taken place. <\/p>\n

MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every time the ball comes into contact is it an offence. There is sufficient doubt in this action not to award a penalty kick.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is one of those that will be heavily debated, especially by the travelling supporters, but the Magpies will have to wait for a fourth game to win again, next up against Burnley<\/a> on Tuesday, 30 December.<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim could have thrown it all away vs Newcastle<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim has been under immense pressure<\/a> for multiple things, and Gary Neville<\/a> clearly believes that it could have increased had his substitutions gone wrong at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n

Speaking after the game, the former United defender questioned the manager\u2019s \u201cbizarre\u201d changes [Sky Sports<\/a>], such as Tyler Fredricson replacing Martinez for the final few minutes.<\/p>\n

He also questioned why Casemiro<\/a> was taken off just after the hour mark, with no apparent formation change straight away, with the Brazilian coping fine in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n

Howe\u2019s side really put the pressure on in the final stages, seeing several of their efforts saved, ballooned over the crossbar, or wasted by certain players.<\/p>\n

Securing the victory was possibly more fortune than it was smart management. However, the Red Devils won\u2019t care, much like the penalty decision won\u2019t matter either.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Getty Images \/ Sky Sports Fri 26 December 2025 22:32, UK Anthony Taylor was right not to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":474243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[165058,131620,3782,16863,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-474242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-keith-hackett","9":"tag-lisandro-martinez","10":"tag-manchester-united","11":"tag-newcastle-united","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115789612781270398","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}