Rafa Benitez demands introduction of VAR after defeat

Jamie Woodhouse
Benitez F365

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has called for the immediate introduction of VAR after his side’s 2-1 loss to Wolves at St James’ Park.

The visitors opened the scoring after 17 minutes when Diogo Jota sent a close-range effort past Martin Dubravka. The Magpies response would be swift however, as Ayoze Perez flicked a header into the net shortly after Solomon Rondon’s free-kick had crashed back off the post.

The main talking point would arrive after 57 minutes when DeAndre Yedlin was shown a straight red for pulling down Jota in what appeared a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Newcastle thought they had done enough to hold on but Matt Doherty had other plans, nodding in a 94th minute winner to leave Newcastle shell-shocked.

Benitez was far from pleased with referee Mike Dean’s performance. Speaking to Match of the Day, he said: “It was key to the game – the red card and the elbow on Ayoze Perez. We need VAR now.

“In this game it would have changed everything.

“We were doing enough to control the game. How can you explain those decisions to all our fans? We did everything we could do for winning this game.”

Speaking about the Yedlin red card he said: “You can guarantee to me that the player in the corner of the box can score in the top corner every time? It cannot be a red card.

“We have lost three points today and we deserve to win.”