Mike Dean explains why VAR did not overturn Jota’s penalty

Former referee Mike Dean gave his insight as to why Diogo Jota’s penalty was not overturn by VAR.

Liverpool were rewarded a penalty against Newcastle in the closing stages of the match, which helped them secure a 4-2 win. However, many have deemed the decision to be a soft one with Jota going down fairly easily.

Dean labeled the penalty ‘soft one, but once there’s contact it’s very hard to overturn it’.

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Many pundits, including Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Jamie Garragher have slammed Jota’s antics, claiming the Portuguese could have easily stayed on his feet and scored a goal on his own.

“Would rather go down for a penalty than put the ball in an empty net! Seen it all,” Wright wrote.

“He doesn’t need to go down. Just carry on,” Carragher said.