I saw players blocking shots with bravery and determination

Good post Wisbech, and to back that up, it was interesting that Vieira is thinking of playing Ayew in a no 8 role more often, which (I assume) will allow PV to have Olise on the pitch at the same time. AS I said in an earlier post it was Ayew's play (and I would add, determination) that led to the two set piece plays that resulted in our goals against Citeh.

MOTD was just embarrassing. We could see Shearer winding himself up a long time before. Then he embarked on a rant against the ref, the head of refs, VAR, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. Even the sainted Gary Lineker joined in with a complaint that goal-keepers are a protected species. Yet the ref's decision to rule out the goal was a reasonable one. Yes, it was debatable, and could have been discussed, with the pros and cons set out. Instead we got a ludicrously biassed onslaught from a former Newcastle striker who could not handle the fact that Palace nicked a draw. And that was the only comment MOTD gave on the match, which was predictably the last on the MOTD schedule. Nothing about Palace's tactics which PV got right this time - his substitutions almost won the match. And nothing about Newcastle's strengths and weaknesses. As for the attacks on VAR: yes, there will be very narrow offside decisions, and yes there will be 50:50 calls like the one yesterday. But that does not invalidate VAR which ensures that incorrect decisions are over-turned. It is far better for the game as a whole, and abandoning it would mean that gross mistakes stand, creating far more bitterness than at present.

Do all the Newcastle fans seriously believe that Mitchell shouldn't have attempted to clear the danger, his momentum to get to the ball brought him into contact with their player, it's a bit embarrassing really with their desperation.

I've noticed today that there's a desperate want from Sky to preach a narrative that 'VAR Is In Crisis'. So it helps their hyperbole to over-emphasise the 'controversial' decision, otherwise they couldn't bundle it in with West Ham's disallowed goal, Coutinho's disallowed goal and whatever else they need to churn out 24/7 coverage.

I agree, it probably was a foul. I get how it could be argued otherwise, but that's football. One person will justify a decision one way, and someone else will justify it another.

The most tedious thing in modern football is the media or managers moaning the f*** out of referee decisions. s*** happens. People make mistakes. Refs try their best, and at best, with many decisions, I suspect they're making decisions based on percentages. Ie. It's 'probably' a foul if you consider XYZ. They're invariably vulnerable to a subjective counter-argument. Those who moan aren't put in the same position where they have to judge and be held accountable for a decision knee-deep in grey-area. Fans/managers/Alan Shearer etc need to suck it up and move on. The fact is, any team's tactical success/failure is more significant than anything the referee does, but it's easier to direct blame towards the referee than to admit tactics/recruitment/players/coaching/substitutions/training/rehabilitation etc just wasn't quite good enough to win a game of football.