Premier League issue statement over controversial Anthony Gordon goal as Postecoglou rages

Anthony Gordon's goal was heavily disputed by Tottenham. (Image: Getty.)

The Premier League have explained why Anthony Gordon's goal for Newcastle against Tottenham was allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR check.

The ball hit Joelinton's arm in the build-up to the goal after Lucas Bergvall attempted to flick a pass through to Pedro Porro, only to be intercepted by the Brazilian.

Bruno Guimaraes then laid the ball off to Gordon who fired an effort past debutant Brandon Austin in the Spurs goal, cancelling out Dominic Solanke's opener.

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Many inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, including Ally McCoist on commentary for TNT Sports, expected the goal to be ruled out for handball, only for referee Andy Madley to point to the centre circle for a goal.

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Ange Postecoglou erupted on the touchline, partly due to the decision to award the goal but also sloppy passing from Bergvall and Pape Matar Sarr to turn the ball over.

The league's Match Centre has since explained why the goal was given, issuing a statement which read: "The referee’s call of goal was confirmed by VAR, who checked for a potential handball by Joelinton in the build-up and deemed that his arm was by his side, in a natural position and the contact was accidental."

Andy Madley confirming that a goal had been checked and confirmed. (Image: Getty) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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Dan Burn then found himself fortunate not to have been shown a second yellow card in the opening minutes, after he handled the ball to stop a Spurs counter.

Madley blew up for a foul but opted against brandishing another booking, despite clamours from the Spurs team to send Burn off.

All that chaos came in an opening 25 minutes which started with Solanke heading the ball past Martin Dubravka while new England head coach Thomas Tuchel watched on.

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The striker's smart run evaded Sven Botman, on his first start of the season, before finding the bottom corner with an emphatic headed effort.

Gordon then took his chance to impress Tuchel by firing past Austin, making his league debut for Spurs, in the absence of Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster.

Postecoglou's outfit has since moved to address concerns between the two posts. They are set to welcome 21-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky this month in a £12.5million move from Slavia Prague.

The hosts' misery was compounded when Alexander Isak got the final touch on a Jacob Murphy cross and turned it past Austin to take the lead before half-time.