Newcastle fans can rightly feel hard done by after yesterday. The Magpies gave as good as they got as they welcomed Liverpool to St James Park, and they were very unlucky not to get more than the 3-2 loss they suffered. There was controversy too, seeing as when Christian Atsu lashed in the Geordies’ first equaliser, Trent Alexander-Arnold could have been sent off for a goalline handball.
20' – GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL! ATSU EQUALISES FOR UNITED! #NUFC pic.twitter.com/oIx40AzIFa
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) May 4, 2019
As you can imagine, at the time of the incident, most of the Magpies were too busy celebrating putting the ball in the net to be too bothered about the lead up to it. Regardless, there was a clear handball on the goalline from Trent Alexander-Arnold as he blocked Salomon Rondon’s initial shot, and had the ball not dropped for Christian Atsu to score then it would have certainly been a red card and a penalty.
It was a fantastic time for Atsu to grab his first Premier League goal of the season and had the referee decided to disallow the goal and bring it back for a Newcastle penalty and a red card for the Liverpool man he could have rightfully felt frustrated himself. Playing against ten for 70 minutes and having a spot-kick would almost certainly have been the better option though, and it’s just a good thing that Rafa Benitez’s side have nothing to play for.
You can read the Geordies’ thoughts on Arnold’s unpunished handball here:
https://twitter.com/JSirigu/status/1124752251829084162
https://twitter.com/myoungy2805/status/1124752806999621632
https://twitter.com/_Lukey_83/status/1124752739110608896
Red card no matter if we scored or not what the hell even in rugby they go back and check
— kparry (@Kenp75) May 4, 2019
Useless officials again should have been Liverpool Red Card
— Paul Reilly (@PauloHill16) May 4, 2019
@SkySportsNews of course can’t see the hand ball . Why is Carragher allowed to commentate on Liverpool matches
— Gayle van der Merwe (@gmerwe7707) May 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/MatthewPowell24/status/1124752758144471040
The Geordies can feel aggrieved by the fact that Trent Alexander-Arnold went unpunished, and it could just have cost them three points.
