Premier League release 36-word statement after Chelsea incident in Newcastle draw

The Premier League have released a statement explaining the VAR decision not to give Newcastle United a penalty during the second half of the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.

It was a physical game between Chelsea and Newcastle at St. James' Park, especially in the second half.

Having been 2-0 down at half-time, the visitors were understandably fired up after Reece James paved the way for a comeback with a beautiful free-kick goal early in the second half.

Of course, Newcastle did not just try to defend their one-goal lead and had a few chances.

Anthony Gordon, who caused a lot of problems for Chelsea, got the ball into the box in the 54th minute before being sent flying by Trevoh Chalobah's charge.

Should this have been a Newcastle penalty? 🤔

VAR ruled that there was no foul on Anthony Gordon by Trevoh Chalobah ❌ pic.twitter.com/oReAtH9fmg
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 20, 2025

The hosts appealed for a penalty, but referee Andrey Madley waved it away; a decision that was later backed up by VAR.

Joao Pedro levelled the scoring not long after as Chelsea secured a point after a disastrous start to the game.

On the other hand, the frustrated hosts felt that they were denied a clear penalty.

However, the Premier League already made it clear that the contact between Chalobah and Gordon was seen as acceptable.

"The referee's call of no penalty to Newcastle was checked and confirmed by VAR - with the contact from Chalobah and Gordon deemed to be side-to-side in a shielding action and the ball within playing distance," the statement from Premier League match centre reads.

Despite the disappointing first half, the Chelsea players showed tremendous commitment to fight until the end.

There were a lot of mistakes to address defensively, but Chelsea will at least maintain their spot in the top four until their upcoming fixture against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge next Saturday.