Newcastle United limped to a 1-1 draw versus Wolves at St James’ Park this afternoon, in a match they ended up being lucky to secure a point from.
Despite dominating in the first half and taking the lead through a Jamaal Lascelles header, the Magpies were unable to secure a third win of the season after falling apart in a poor second half performance.
A sloppy display after the break saw Martin Dubravka palm an innocuous cross straight into the path of Wolves’ Jonny for the equaliser, and a follow-through challenge from Sean Longstaff saw Newcastle reduced to 10 men for the final 15 minutes.
Longstaff had found himself stretching to win the ball from Wolves’ Ruben Neves, losing control of his slide tackle and landing his studs on the Portuguese player’s shin.
He was perhaps unlucky to see red, as although his challenge was reckless, it was not malicious. However there could be no real arguments with the referee’s final decision.
From there the Toon’s only hope was to hold on for a draw, which they ultimately managed thanks to a mix of good defending and woeful finishing from the visitors.
But while Bruce might be pleased to have hung on for a point, the majority of Newcastle fans have been left frustrated yet again.
They’ve had to sit through another Dubravka error, another duck in front of goal for Miguel Almiron and now a red card top it all off.
But while the former two players are getting plenty of stick, Longstaff has been oddly free of criticism for his red card challenge.
According to some fans there’s only one man to blame for Longstaff’s red card… and that’s Joelinton.
Toon fans hammer Joelinton for Longstaff red card
https://twitter.com/deenjam2/status/1188487504686649346
https://twitter.com/JJFletcher7/status/1188484621463363584
https://twitter.com/inzi_ulhaq/status/1188480659100241944
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