'Crime against football' - Newcastle fans annihilate Benitez for decision in loss v Bournemouth

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Published on:

04 Nov 2017, 12:01 pm

By Danny Wright

Newcastle United fans have annihilated Rafa Benitez for his decision to substitute Joselu off for Ayoze Perez in the 1-0 loss to Bournemouth at St. James' Park on Saturday.

Perez, 24, had been in a poor run of form lately and was axed from the starting line-up ahead of the game as Benitez decided to start with two strikers up front.

However after 68 minutes, the Spanish boss decided to switch things up and bring on Perez for summer signing Joselu, and that decision did not go down well with the supporters on Twitter, with one claiming that it was a "crime against football" to leave Aleksandar Mitrovic on the bench.

Here is a selection of their tweets:

Bournemouth poor today, Newcastle even worse! Bringing Perez on and not Mitro is a crime against football 😒 #nufc
— Reece (@ReeceHope3) November 4, 2017

Joselu for me has had enough chances now bringing him off for Perez was pointless it was basically like for like #Nufc
— ⚫️⚪️💪🫶🏻FIT-4-LIFE🫶🏻💪⚪️⚫️ (@prowe29195) November 4, 2017

Taking Joselu off for Perez was shocking!Stopped causing problems after that #nufc
— Dave (@DiddyNUFC) November 4, 2017

Can’t believe Rafa today, man. As much as I respect him, he made some very poor changes today. Bringing on Perez? Not playing Mitro? 😠 #NUFC
— Brandon ✝️ (@GooseCIK) November 4, 2017

Swapping Joselu for Perez meaning we had literally nobody to hold the ball up #nufc
— Ryan Nann (@RyanNann) November 4, 2017

Perez has made 11 appearances across all competitions this season, starting every single game before Saturday's defeat on Tyneside to Eddie Howe's side.

Steve Cook's 90th minute winner for Bournemouth handed Newcastle with their second defeat of the week after losing at Burnley on Monday night.

The Magpies have now just won one of their last six Premier League fixtures after a decent start that saw them beat the likes of Stoke and West Ham.

After the international break, Newcastle's next match is against Manchester United at Old Trafford as things fail to get any easier for Benitez and his men.

In other Newcastle United news, Paul Ince has made a shock prediction about the Magpies, which now looks more likely after defeat to Bournemouth.

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Newcastle United

Rafael Benitez