Swansea City manager Carlos Carvalhal has insisted that his side were denied a clear penalty which would have been quickly detected with the use of VAR, as they gained a crucial point in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United.
Would have been a different story with VAR
The Swans made the long trip up to Tyneside for what many would believe to be their most important game of the season thus far, but were very much under the quash for the majority of the clash.
They managed to take the lead much against the run of play with Jordan Ayew's effort which was swiftly cut out by Joselu's equaliser, but if Carvalhal had his way his side would have been given the chance to take all three points.
It appeared that Mo Diame blocked Mike van der Hoorn's attempt with his elbow which went unpunished by referee Graham Scott. Swansea have been on the wrong end of some questionable refereeing decisions in the past week with Leroy Fer's now rescinded red card in the 0-0 draw with Wolves.
VAR has been trialled in the last seven days in both The FA Cup and semi-finals of The Carabao Cup, and Carvalhal insisted that if it was used in this clash his side would have had a man advantage and a spot-kick.
"I must be honest, I didn’t see it (penalty claim) at the time," Carvalhal admitted in his post-match press conference. "I did not have a clear view, but with the technology we have my assistant was able to take a look and he said it was a clear penalty and a red card for Diame but the referee didn’t see it so it’s part of the game."
"Usually teams in our position have these type of decisions not go in our favour, I don't know why," the manager proclaimed. "But I think we can say that with VAR it would have been a penalty and a red card."
"In 10 seconds the video referee could communicate," the Portuguese national stated. "Say to stop the game and issue a red card and give a penalty."
"It was like against Tottenham, their first goal is offside and would not be valid," Carvajal added. "The same way as our first goal at Watford because, even if it was one centimetre, my player was offside."
Swansea slowly making some progress
Though their position in the table has not yet improved since the arrival of Carvalhal their performances on the pitch certainly have, which has seen them pull themselves just four points from the safety having taken four points in their last two away matches including their win over Watford.
Things aren't expected to get any easier for The Swans with the visit of both Liverpool and Arsenal in the coming weeks, but Carvalhal insisted what he has seen on the pitch has been "very positive" and will be hopeful to "jump up positions".
"In the last two away games, we've got four points, which is very positive," he said on The Swans' progress. "We are progressing, but it's not just the results. Today we had more possession than Newcastle, and had possession with intent to attack."
"We will make it difficult for them [Liverpool and Arsenal]," the coach reiterated. "The attitude in all the games has been fantastic - they are upset today because they wanted to win, but we will give a good answer in these two games."
"We want to jump up positions," Carvalhal concluded. "After the win at Watford, and now today, I believe that more people will think we can change positions."