Former referee delivers 'absolutely brilliant' VAR verdict on Bruno Guimaraes' Newcastle equaliser

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has praised the 'absolutely brilliant' VAR decision to allow Newcastle United's equaliser against Leicester City to stand. The Magpies came from behind to secure their fifth straight home victory with a 2-1 victory over the Foxes on Easter Sunday.

Ademola Lookman opened the scoring for the visitors, only for Bruno Guimaraes to poke a first-half equaliser through Kasper Schmeichel's legs. The January signing would go on to score his third goal in black-and-white after netting a sensational diving header in injury time.

Jarred Gillett initially disallowed Guimaraes' equaliser for a suspected foul on Schmeichel, but was advised by the VAR to consult the pitchside monitor. Gallagher has praised the response from the officials, and is adamant the right decision was reached with the goalkeeper not using his hands to claim possession.

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He told Sky Sports: "Absolutely brilliant because I think the referee feels that he has got his hand on the ball which he doesn't. He gives a foul, and you look and there's clearly no foul.

"The goalkeeper is playing as a defender, he hasn't gone to use his hands, he's used his feet. The ball comes loose and he goes to use his feet.

"If he tackles the full-back like that and scored, you would expect the goal. That's the key issue for me, and I think the VAR was really, really good there because the minute it happened, the goal was disallowed and the VAR immediately said 'don't restart, I need to check this'.

"They looked at it a couple of times, there's no foul and said to the referee go look at the screen. In my opinion, there's no foul."