Shock moment referee forced to use PHONE to check VAR penalty call.. before changing his mind on decision
A REFEREE was forced to use a mobile phone during his VAR check in bizarre and chaotic scenes.
A Portuguese Primeira League match between Porto and Arouca ended 1-1 but was dominated by controversy.
Arouca scored first via Cristo Gonzalez in the 83rd minute before things took a hectic and unique turn.
Porto were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute with VAR deciding to review the decision.
Referee Miguel Nogueira was then called over to the pitchside monitor but seemed unable to communicate with the VAR hub due to a technical error.
After a lengthy delay, the official was then handed a mobile phone and discussed the possible penalty with his fellow officials.
Nogueira decided to overturn his own call and no spot-kick was given.
The drama continued as Porto were then awarded with another penalty in the 106th minute.
This time the spot-kick stood, but Wenderson Galeno saw his effort from 12 yards saved by Ignacio De Arruabarrena as Arouca thought they had held on to the three points.
Porto continued to pile the pressure on and eventually equalised when Evanilson netted with the clock at 90+19.
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Eventually, the final whistle was blown with 22 minutes of stoppage time played.
This all came after Porto striker Mehdi Taremi saw his first-half goal chalked off for offside after a VAR check.
It was Sergio Conceicao‘s team’s second dramatic finish to a game in as many weeks following their 2-1 win away at Rio Ave last weekend.
Porto trailed 1-0 only to find the back of the net twice in injury time to seal an incredible comeback victory.
The Dragons sit third in the league table after four matches and are in this season’s Champions League Group H with Shakhtar Donestk, Barcelona and Royal Antwerp.