Isaac Hayden effectively handed Leicester three points when he was sent off for a challenge on Dennis Praet.
The midfielder lunged in recklessly, taking the ball then following through on the man. There was no hesitation from the referee, who sent Hayden for an early bath.
That came just before half time, meaning Newcastle had to play the entire second half with just 10 men. The Magpies imploded, succumbing to a 5-0 hammering from the Foxes.
Praet was on the end of Hayden’s tackle, crumbling into a heap on the floor. And the Belgian midfielder believes he could have been seriously hurt.
“I was very lucky,” he told Belgian outlet Sporza.
“It could have been a lot worse. This was maybe my welcome to England? I’ve noticed that referees here are less likely to whistle at lighter offences. In Italy, they whistle a little easier.”
In 2019, it was definitely a red card. 20 years ago, it probably wasn’t even a foul. But the rules are the rules. Hayden went in with excessive force and was fairly sent off. But Praet didn’t do much to protect himself.
He definitely was lucky not to get hurt. That’s because it was a bad tackle. But also because he bottled the challenge and went in halfhearted.
When you’re a kid playing football, you’re told you’ll hurt yourself more if you don’t go 100% into a tackle. Obviously they aren’t taught that in Belgium, as Praet could very easily have picked up an injury there that ruled him out for months.
This isn’t justifying Hayden’s actions. It was a really bad tackle. But would it have been a red if Praet had slid in for the ball as well? Who knows.
Either way, he didn’t and Hayden saw red, and we ended up on the end of a humiliating 5-0 defeat.
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