Newcastle United fans were not happy with one person after Murillo’s opening goal for Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Eddie Howe’s side needed a positive result and that seemed unlikely when they conceded in the 21st minute.
Forest have the second-best defensive record in the Premier League and certainly don’t squander many leads.
Newcastle supporters did not know they would produce a remarkable second-half comeback, so they had every reason to be frustrated.
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Newcastle fans blame Anthony Taylor for Nottingham Forest goal
Nottingham Forest were awarded a corner which should have been a goal kick for Newcastle and, a few moments later, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men won a free kick.
Anthony Elanga then produced a superb delivery which invited centre-back Murillo to head the ball into the back of the net.
Alexander Isak was partly to blame for the goal, as he vacated the space that Murillo found in the box, but Newcastle fans took to Twitter to point the finger at the referee instead – Anthony Taylor.
A Newcastle fan said: “So, let me get this right. They get a free kick (it was a foul) after a corner which was actually a goal kick and they score from it. The officiating has been an absolute joke so far this half.”
One supporter wrote: “You have to laugh at the worst refereeing performance I’ve seen all season. Two awful decisions against us so far that have resulted in us being 1-0 down against 11 men (should be 10).”
“Referee has been shocking so far. Livramento should have got a free kick and that corner should have been a goal kick,” another added.
“Full-on protest. Should have been a goal kick. Blatant. They need to look at this on VAR,” said a Magpies supporter.
One more wrote: “Absolute joke of a referee, but I suppose we just have to accept that sort of crap don’t we.”
“From a corner that wasn’t, just amazed the referee didn’t join in with the Forest celebrations,” another posted.
Newcastle’s impressive second-half comeback
Despite the questionable officiating, Newcastle deserved to be a goal down at halftime after a poor first-half display.
But Eddie Howe must have inspired his players in the interval because they were a completely different team in the second half.
Isak posed a serious threat every time he received the ball, having looked out of sorts beforehand, while Joelinton’s left-footed finish was exquisite.
Harvey Barnes replaced Anthony Gordon with 10 minutes of normal time to go and almost immediately doubled the visitors’ advantage.
The 3-1 win sees Newcastle move up to eighth in the Premier League table ahead of the November international break.
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