'I don't understand' - Fabian Hurzeler makes VAR claim after busy afternoon for officials as Brighton held by Newcastle

In an entertaining Premier League battle between two teams aiming to quality for Europe, VAR got involved three times – all following incidents in the Brighton penalty area.

With Brighton leading through Yankuba Minteh’s first-half strike, Craig Pawson twice pointed to the spot in the second-half.

The first incident unfolded when Anthony Gordon went down under a challenge from Tariq Lamptey. After being told to check the pitchside monitor, the referee realised the contact was outside the box and instead awarded a free-kick.

Pawson gave another spot-kick after Joe Willock went tumbling – with Jan Paul van Hecke adjudged to have fouled the Newcastle man. VAR got involved once again, and the referee once again corrected his decision – booking Willock for simulation.

Newcastle were not to be denied a penalty at the third time of asking though.

Alexander Isak levelled the scoring from 12 yards on the 89th minute after Yasin Ayari used his hand to block a goal-bound free-kick.

“I always say the VAR makes the football more fair, and today we saw it,” Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler told reporters, post-match.

"So I think the one foul where there was not even a touch from JP, I think if we wouldn't have a VAR we would sit here and talk about someone who tried to get a penalty without a touch.

“I think that confirms my opinion again that the VAR makes football more fair, but of course it breaks the rhythm of the game, it takes a long time, so sometimes it's very frustrating how long it takes, and therefore on the one side it's very positive, on the other side we all know that it breaks the rhythm of the game.”

However, Hurzeler was not completely in agreement with the decisions made.

He felt his team were hard done by when the referee waved play on following a robust challenge by Sandro Tonali on Matt O’Riley.

“That's a thing I don't understand,” the German said.

"The referee [blew] the whistle when there's not even a touch and gave a penalty for them. I don't see that there's a big difference between the foul from T [Tariq Lamptey] on Gordon instead of the foul from [Tonali] on Matt O’Riley.

"I don't see a big difference, so therefore I think if he gives the penalty, VAR has no chance to go into it.

"We tried our best, so I thanked him [Pawson] – I think it was not an easy game. We tried our best, and therefore he made a decision, we have to accept it, and now we have to carry on.”