NEWCASTLE fans praised VAR after a Jonjo Shelvey strike against Sheffield United was upheld – even though Blades defenders STOPPED playing.
Shelvey bagged the second goal in a 2-0 win for the Toon at Bramall Lane on Thursday night.
But his strike was mired in controversy after Andy Carroll appeared as if he may have come back from an offside position in the build-up.
Blades defenders stood completely still as Shelvey charged onto Carroll’s flick-on, with the linesman holding his flag up for offside.
Shelvey still proceeded to bury his shot past Dean Henderson.
And it proved to be a savvy piece of thinking as VAR checked to see if he had indeed been offside when initially presented with the ball.
Indeed, there was nothing wrong with Shelvey’s run which left the Sheffield United defence for dead.
And supporters were left hailing VAR as Steve Bruce’s men secured three points on the road.
One tweeted: “Always play to the whistle kids! Love VAR me… never slagged it off once.”
Another wrote: “Didn’t really like this VAR, now I love VAR.”
One said: “Anyone moaning about the Newcastle goal ALWAYS play to the final whistle.
“Don’t see what VAR did wrong in this situation.”
Another added: “WE LOVE SHELVEY, WE LOVE VAR AND WE LOVE 3 AWAY POINTS.”
Allan Saint-Maxim opened the scoring for Newcastle in Sheffield.
And the Toon are now up to 11th in the Premier League table with three wins in their last five matches.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk