Mark Halsey reacts to major controversy in West Ham United loss v Newcastle

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes VAR should never have got involved in the incident which saw Kalvin Phillips concede a penalty in West Ham United's 4-3 loss to Newcastle.

The Hammers fell behind after an early penalty was conceded due to an "extremely clumsy" Vladimir Coufal foul, before Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus got the Hammers into the lead at half-time.

Jarrod Bowen made it 3-1 in the second half, but the Magpies were gifted a route back into the game when Phillips was adjudged to have fouled Anthony Gordon when clearing the ball away.

VAR intervened and the referee overturned his decision after going to the screen, but responding to Bianca Westwood's tweet which called the decision an "absolute joke", former referee Halsey admitted he felt it wasn't a penalty.

"Not a penalty for me Bianca," he wrote on his personal Twitter account (30 March). "VAR should never have got involved."

Absolutely ridiculous decision costs West Ham United

Somehow from a position of being 3-1 up and cruising, West Ham have come away from St James' Park with no points and just pure anger.

The performance up to that point of the penalty was very good for the most part, defensively keeping the hosts quiet and providing a threat going the other way also.

But when Phillips 'fouls' Gordon, all the momentum changed and the crowd were allowed to come back into the game which contributed to the Hammers crumbling and losing.

However, without that shocker of a decision from the officials then you could argue that none of that happens and David Moyes gets praise for a masterclass on the road.

It's not good enough from the officials that it's allowed to happen that way, and once again VAR is going to be the headline-maker instead of the football that was played.

In other West Ham news, TNT Sports pundit blasts "absolutely ridiculous" incident v Newcastle.

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