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Rio Ferdinand hammered the officials for giving Newcastle a "disgraceful decision" in awarding them a penalty late on in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

Anthony Gordon converted with four minutes remaining, which looked to have won the game for the hosts, before Cristian Romero came up with his second goal of the night deep into added time to equalise. Referee Thomas Bramall was sent to the pitchside monitor after VAR spotted Rodrigo Bentancur holding Dan Burn in the penalty box as the hosts took a corner.

After review a spot kick was given with the Premier League match manager stating on social media that it was because Bentancur "clearly does not look at the ball" while committing a "holding offence".

That didn't sit well with plenty of observers - Ferdinand among them. The ex-defender said: "Disgraceful decision to reward #NUFC penalty… whoever controlling the VAR should be ashamed + the ref then reviews and should be also."

Jamie Carragher claimed: "I do feel the penalty award was really harsh. I do understand he wasn't looking at the ball, but at the end it was the sheer power of Dan Burn, who is so much bigger and stronger than him...Burn was almost putting him on the floor."

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Bruno Guimaraes had given Newcastle the lead before Romero headed Tottenham level. His overhead kick then ensured the north Londoners would return south with a point but Thomas Frank, who has come under heavy scrutiny, was angered by VAR's involvement.

He said: "It was an absolute mistake from the VAR. The referee did good to do the ref call and they encourage the refereeing call on the pitch. For me, that is never a penalty. Even speaking to some from Newcastle [they] don't think it's a penalty and we need consistency. I think the referee's call on the pitch, he nailed it, and VAR can only be if it's clear and obvious."

Eddie Howe cited Bentancur's lack of eyes for the ball and claimed that it was "probably the right call." However the lack of consistency has proved to be the biggest frustration with holding offences going on at the majority of set pieces - but rarely picked up or penalised.

The stalemate leaves both teams with identical records after 14 games and neither is in the top half despite their European ambitions. Tottenham meanwhile have to go back to October 26 for their last Premier League win ahead of Frank welcoming former club Brentford at the weekend.

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