The referee was correct not to award Newcastle a penalty during Wednesday’s defeat at Manchester United, says an independent panel.

Sofyan Amrabat stepped on the heel of Magpies winger Anthony Gordon as he ran into the box late in the first half, with United leading 1-0.

The hosts went on to win 3-2 and the incident, which Gordon said was “a clear penalty”, has now been reviewed by the Premier League’s Key Match Incident Panel.

In the verdict, which has been seen by BBC Sport, one panellist believed the “left foot of the defender impedes the attacker on the back of his heel ” and was enough to warrant a penalty.

However, the other four panellists felt otherwise and the non intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR) was unanimously supported.

“[Amrabat] goes down my Achilles and pushes me in the back,” said Gordon. “I don’t mind the referee getting it wrong on the pitch, but I don’t understand the point of VAR.”