Joey Barton delivers verdict on controversial moment in Newcastle loss v Brighton
By Danny Wright
Joey Barton believes that Tomer Hemed should avoid a retrospective ban after he appeared to stamp on DeAndre Yedlin in Newcastle United’s 1-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.
Hemed scored the match-winning goal in the 51st minute but it was his apparent stamp on the Magpies ace that managed to grab the headlines after the game with a potential three-match ban on the way if the FA find him guilty of violent conduct.
Referee Andre Marriner didn’t act on the incident at the time, and ex-Newcastle and QPR midfielder Barton reckons it should stay that way as he doesn’t want to see players picking up suspensions.
“He’ll probably get done for it, he could have avoided it but he got away with it,” said Barton on TalkSport, as shown in a video on Alan Brazil’s Sports Breakfast’s official Twitter account on Monday morning.
“He might be able to argue the case, he might be able to get away with that. The difficulty lies with the FA, they’re going to have to prove that he actually tried to stamp on him, it’s not for him to prove it.
“It doesn’t look conclusive when you look at the evidence, you can see both sides of the argument.
“I don’t like to see players get banned. He maybe could have avoided him but just let them get on with it.”
Newcastle’s loss at the AMEX halted a winning run which lifted Rafa Benitez’s side up to the top end of the Premier League table.
They slipped down to eighth place in the standings after the 1-0 loss but could fall further down the table should either Arsenal or West Brom get a win against one another on Monday night at the Emirates.
Next up for the Magpies is a clash with Benitez’s old side Liverpool at St. James’ Park on Sunday while Brighton may have to cope without Hemed for their visit to Arsenal at the weekend after the controversial moment in the second-half.
In other Newcastle United news, Alan Shearer has made a big admission about the Magpies’ performance after the loss to the Seagulls.
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