Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe slammed the decision to award Paris Saint-Germain a last-gasp penalty on Tuesday, denying his team a Champions League victory over the French club.
The Premier League side led 1-0 at the Parc des Princes thanks to Alexander Isak’s 25th-minute goal, however Polish referee Szymon Marciniak gave PSG a penalty deep in injury time after a VAR probe for Tino Livramento’s handball.
The ruling felt severe, but Kylian Mbappe converted the penalty kick to earn PSG a 1-1 draw, changing the perspective for both clubs heading into the last round of Group F fixtures.
“In my opinion, it wasn’t the right decision,” Howe told reporters after the game.
“It was a ricochet that, when slowed down, looks nothing like the live event.”
“It strikes his hand, but I don’t believe his hand is in an unusual position.” It seems like a bad decision to me.
“It is hugely frustrating for us because at that moment you know how little time there is left in the game, but there is nothing we can do about it now.”
A win would have put Newcastle into their final group game against AC Milan at home next month, with their fate in their own hands in terms of qualifying for the last 16.
Instead, the draw places them third, and if PSG wins their final game in Germany, they will join the already-qualified Borussia Dortmund in progressing.
Newcastle must defeat Milan at St James’ Park and hope that PSG slips up on the final day.
“I just feel for the players after what they have given and for how they have performed in very difficult circumstances, and what that decision does to the group because now the destiny is not with us,” he said.
“That is tough to take after being so close to being in that position.”
Newcastle’s first Champions League campaign in two decades has been a rollercoaster ride, with a 4-1 home win over PSG last month followed by consecutive losses to Dortmund before Tuesday’s meeting.
“You have to look at what the players have given, and I can’t be deflated by what they have given tonight,” Howe added, hoping to celebrate his 46th birthday with a win on Wednesday.
“We have been thrown in at the deep end with the group, with high-class opposition, great stadiums, and brilliant atmospheres,” he said of his team’s European campaign thus far.
“We are desperate to stay in the competition and show a better version of ourselves because I don’t think people have seen that yet.”