Exclusive: Newcastle star Joelinton took ‘retribution’ after Attwell failure
Stuart Attwell’s failure to officiate quickly led to a multi-player clash between Newcastle and Bournemouth that saw three booked, according to Keith Hackett.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the referee’s delay in stopping the game when Anthony Gordon was fouled by Tyler Adams (18 January) caused Joelinton to “take retribution” on Justin Kluivert.
The melee happened on the stroke of half-time after a frenetic first-half. Adams committed a strong challenge on Gordon, and as the ball fell to hat-trick hero Kluivert, Joelinton steam-rolled in and swept the Dutchman’s legs out from under him.
The Cherries had taken the lead early in the game, with Kluivert scoring after just six minutes.
Bruno Guimaraes equalised with a powerful header from a Lewis Hall corner in the 25th minute.
However, Bournemouth continued to put the pressure on the home side, and were rewarded as Kluivert again gave the Cherries the lead in the 44th minute.
Kluivert sealed his hattrick with a fine strike from range in the 92nd minute, and Liverpool transfer-target Milos Kerkez rounded out the scoring in the 96th minute.
Anthony Gordon foul sparked Newcastle v Bournemouth clash
Following Bournemouth’s second goal, referee Attwell added six minute of stoppage time onto the first-half.
Newcastle, frustrated at losing their lead, began to commit themselves into some forceful challenges, and Bournemouth matched them.
Throughout the first-half, Attwell had chosen to let the game flow, but his decision not to stop the game after Gordon was fouled encouraged the Newcastle players to take matters into their own hands.
Adams was subsequently booked for the original foul, along with Joelinton for his, and Kluivert for his reaction.
Having seen the decision Attwell made, Hackett had this to say: “The referee was not quick enough to blow for the foul on Gordon and if he had continued to blow it is likely that it would have stopped Joelinton taking retribution.
“Kluivert putting his hands in an opponent to perhaps stop an escalation of a problem put himself in line for a yellow card.
“Anthony Gordon is the unlucky guy. Attwell has produced the cards to reinforce his authority.”
The loss to Bournemouth saw Newcastle end their run of nine wins in-a-row, and also saw Arsenal transfer-target Alexander Isak’s goal-scoring run come to an end.
In other news, Newcastle-legend Alan Shearer sent this message to Erling Haaland.
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