Saturday wasn’t the first time Anthony Taylor has robbed Newcastle of a penalty against Manchester United.
Go back to 2015, and the referee did exactly the same at St James’ Park. Newcastle lost the game 1-0, but it might have been different had the Magpies got a penalty.
Emanuel Riviere was blatantly fouled in the box, only for Taylor to wave play on.
Instead, Manchester United went on to win, with Ashley Young scoring in the 89th minute.
And once again on Saturday, Taylor might have cost Newcastle a point or three.
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Taylor misses stonewall penalty
While there is no excuse for conceding a two goal lead, it might have been three.
After goals from Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto, Newcastle were dominating at Old Trafford.
They would receive a free kick out on the left, in a great position for either Jonjo Shelvey or Matt Ritchie to swing one in.
Shelvey did exactly that, and a deflection off Ashley Young saw the ball go out for a ‘corner’.
However, Taylor pointed for a goal kick. Replays after the incident showed just how wrong he got this decision. Not only did it come off a Manchester United player, but it came off a blatant handball.
Had it been spotted, Newcastle would’ve had the chance to go 3-0 up; a chance that Ritchie likely would’ve taken.
While Muto did get away with a similar incident later in the game, going 3-0 up would’ve totally changed the complexion of the game.
If the penalty had been given, there might have been no way for Manchester United to come back and steal something.
Cheers Anthony…