There was more than one disappointing moment for Newcastle United in last night’s defeat to Chelsea and Eddie Howe has now revealed what happened to Anthony Gordon after being subbed off.
Gordon was seen walking around gingerly during the first half after being on the end of a poor challenge from Moises Caicedo who was lucky to not see red.
Howe did not really see the initial challenge, but in his interview with NUFCTV after the game he claimed he was disappointed to see a player of that quality forced out of the game.
Howe says Gordon couldn’t continue
It was only the second minute of the game when the Ecuadorian midfielder took a huge risk by going through the back of Gordon by stamping on his calf.
Newcastle’s winger seemingly did not recover properly from the challenge and the 22-year-old looked a bit off of his game from that point on with a few poor touches and some tired runs.
Though he tried to push on, Gordon was substituted by Howe for Matt Ritchie as he felt this keeping the £45m summer signing on was only going to aggravate whatever injury he had picked up, and that’s the last thing Newcastle need.
It’s difficult to say whether that decision and injury cost Newcastle the game because there was so much time left in the game at that point, but it’s the knock-on effects that it could have on the team that will worry Howe.
“I haven’t seen it myself, I have only seen the affects on Anthony who couldn’t continue after the knock, and it’s sad to see a creative player lost from the game due to the bad tackle.
“I’d need to see it again to nail my own colours to the mast, but I think it was disappointing to see a tackle take out a player of that quality.”
Newcastle can’t afford another injury to a key player
Newcastle were already without Fabian Schar, Joelinton and Alexander Isak last night who only very recently picked up injuries after a long stretch of games in the team, so adding Gordon to that list would be a nightmare for Howe.
His immediate replacement should he be seriously injured would be a 34-year-old Matt Ritchie, someone who certainly must have though his time playing in key games was over.
Ritchie has been a great servant to the team and clearly is a good leader for the players behind the scenes, but he is not someone you want to be relying on when you’re in the hunt for Champions League football.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
