Gabriel Agbonlahor believes that two penalty decisions should have gone against Newcastle United in midweek.

The Lowdown: VAR on Newcastle's side

There were indeed two big penalty calls during Newcastle's 0-0 draw against Arsenal, with Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy sweating over whether or not they were going to give away spot kicks.

However, VAR looked at both incidents which saw Burn's tug on Gabriel's shirt and Murphy's block on a Granit Xhaka cross not enough to warrant the Gunners getting a penalty.

Mikel Arteta certainly didn't see it that way, labelling the decisions as 'scandalous', whereas Burn spoke post-match and claimed that he knew the late handball was never going to be given, perhaps in a joking manner.

The Latest: Agbonlahor bemoans Andy Madley's decisions

TalkSPORT's Agbonlahor blasted VAR and Andy Madley live on air for their inability to award Arsenal two penalties.

He said: "First of all, can I say, the referee - I don't know what his problem was. He was giving a card for standing still, I couldn't believe what he was doing. He wanted to be the centre of attention, shocking from a refereeing performance.

"For me, both are penalties. I think the first one was definitely a pull. We've seen recently that penalties are given more easily now in the Premier League."

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The Verdict: Howe will be counting his lucky stars

While Newcastle did very well to restrict Arsenal to so few chances and even boasted an xG of 1 themselves, had either of those spot-kicks been given, it would have been a damaging loss for the Magpies.

The handball on Murphy would have been very harsh given he was sliding in to block the cross and also had his body turned to the ball, however, Burn certainly got away with one as he made no attempt to hide the fact he was tugging back Gabriel inside the box.

However, given the fact Newcastle have had some big decisions not go their way this season, such as a disallowed goal against Crystal Palace which the PGMOL confirmed was indeed the wrong decision, Eddie Howe will feel his side were due some good fortune for once.