Newcastle United Manager Eddie Howe Criticizes Penalty Decisions in Defeat to Liverpool
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe expressed his dissatisfaction with the penalty decisions in his team’s 4-2 loss to Liverpool on New Year’s Day. Liverpool was awarded two penalties during the match, while Newcastle’s claims for a spot kick were denied in the second half when Sean Longstaff went down inside Liverpool’s penalty area.
The first half saw Liverpool miss an opportunity to take the lead when Martin Dubravka saved Mohamed Salah’s penalty after Luis Diaz was fouled in the area. However, Howe’s main frustration came from the second half decisions. Salah made up for his earlier miss by converting a penalty to restore Liverpool’s two-goal lead after Diogo Jota was brought down by Dubravka.
Speaking after the match at Anfield, Howe stated, “For me, that shouldn’t be given. I think Martin has pulled his hands away, he’s taken two steps before he’s gone down, so for me, it’s not a penalty. Sean Longstaff’s one was, just before that incident. Even the first one, I can see why it’s given, but the contact was so minimal, so we feel hard done by on those decisions.”
When asked if he believed his team was unlucky with officiating decisions, Howe responded, “It’s difficult to say that. You have to have the mindset that you’ve got to create your luck yourself. Feeling hard done by or feeling negative emotions or sorry for yourself never has any positive outcomes, so we’ll look at ourselves as well and what we can improve. It wasn’t a perfect performance for us. I thought the lads gave everything. Physically we committed to the game and Liverpool played very well.”
Howe also addressed the injuries to Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson, who were both absent from the trip to Anfield due to injuries. Trippier suffered a groin problem, while Wilson will miss the next two games.
Despite goals from Alexander Isak and Sven Botman in the second half, Newcastle were clearly outplayed by Liverpool, with Salah scoring twice and Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo also finding the net for the home team.
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(Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)