Ex-PL Ref Mark Clattenburg Slams PGMOL’s Howard Webb After Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

Mark Clattenburg has hit out at PGMOL technical director Howard Webb and suggested controversial officiating ruined Arsenal’s remarkable 2-1 comeback win over Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Gunners came from behind to beat the Magpies courtesy of a late turnaround at St James’ Park that saw Gabriel Magalhaes head home a 90+6th-minute winner. The hosts had held a one-nil lead through Nick Woltemade’s 34th-minute header and looked likely to take all three points with six minutes left of normal time.

Mikel Merino came up trumps off the bench to equalise in the 84th minute before Gabriel ensured the visitors closed the gap on leaders Liverpool to just two points. But much of the post-match talk has been about Mikel Arteta’s men being denied a penalty in the first half after Nick Pope brought Viktor Gyokeres down in the box.

Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal: Clattenburg Tells Howard He’s ‘Failed’

Arsenal were initially awarded a penalty when Gyokeres (pictured above) broke into the Newcastle box and looked to turn away from Pope before making contact and going down. Gillett pointed to the spot, but VAR intervened, and the Australian official was sent to the pitchside monitor to rewatch the incident.

Gillett overturned his decision after agreeing with VAR’s verdict that Pope had got a slight touch on the ball. Gunners players protested while Arteta sarcastically smirked on the touchline in bemusement.

Arteta’s North Londoners eventually got the job done and capitalised on Liverpool’s shock 2-1 loss away to Crystal Palace on Saturday. But many were stunned by the decision to overturn the spot-kick, including Jamie Redknapp in the Sky Sports studio and Bukayo Saka in his post-match interview.

Clattenburg, who refereed Premier League matches for 13 years, took aim at Webb and his PGMOL team for yet another refereeing debacle. He wrote on X: “Another match where we are discussing the standards of refereeing in the Premier League (Newcastle vs Arsenal). Time for Webb to accept his has failed!!”

Arsenal weren’t the only side perhaps asking questions of Gillett and the PGMOL after Sunday’s drama-filled clash at St James’. Gabriel was fortunate to get away with a slap on Woltemade in the 40th minute that could have proven costly in the grand scheme of things.

One Too Many – PGMOL’s Shocking Calls This Season

This isn’t the first time the standards of officiating in the Premier League have been questioned this season. A day earlier, a hugely contentious call came in Brentford’s 3-1 win over Manchester United when Nathan Collins pulled Bryan Mbeumo down in the box and was the last man, and surely denied a clear goalscoring opportunity, but didn’t receive a red card.

Fulham were cruelly denied a deserved opener in a 2-0 defeat away to Chelsea last month when Rodrigo Muniz span and studs inadvertently clipped Trevoh Chalobah before Josh King scored a superb strike which was eventually disallowed. The PGMOL apologised for this but has rarely acknowledged errors.

GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: 13 VAR mistakes were made in by matchweek 23 of the 2024-25 Premier League campaign

Another bizarre call came in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-0 victory against West Ham United earlier this month, when a Cristian Romero header was ruled out for a supposed push. It’s taking the gloss off a terrific start to the season, with several twists and turns, because clubs, coaches, and fans can’t rely on officiating.