Newcastle fans tear into ‘criminal’ Anthony Gordon after what he did vs Barcelona
Newcastle United fans have slammed Anthony Gordon after his misplaced pass led to Barcelona winning a penalty that saw them claim a late 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.
Newcastle are still in with a chance of progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a draw in the first leg of their last 16 clash against Barcelona.
Harvey Barnes gave the Magpies the lead in the 86th minute, as he turned Jacob Murphy’s cross past Joan Garcia, but Malick Thiaw handed Barca the chance to equalise in injury time after fouling Dani Olmo in the penalty area.
Lamine Yamal then swept his penalty past Aaron Ramsdale to hand the Catalan giants the advantage heading into the second leg.
Newcastle travel to Barcelona next week for a tough second leg at the Camp Nou, with Gordon blasted for his role in the build-up to Barca’s late penalty on Tyneside.
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VISIT THE NEWCASTLE MATCH HUBNewcastle fans fume at Anthony Gordon for his poor pass before Barcelona penalty incident
Newcastle simply needed to keep hold of the ball in the dying embers to seal a historic win over Barcelona, but instead of doing that, Gordon decided to try to play a long pass to Sandro Tonali in the 94th minute.
He had Joe Willock wide open on his left, or could have even just run forward with the ball himself, but the poor pass gave the visitors the chance to launch one final attack, which resulted in Olmo winning the penalty.
Newcastle fans fumed at Gordon on X following his error, with one saying: “Gordon booting the ball away there rather than keeping the ball and playing Willock in on the left is criminal (to be honest).”
While another said: “Gordon should be blamed for his poor pass to Tonali, which allowed Barcelona to launch their final attack, resulting in a reckless and unnecessary tackle.”
And one added: “What annoyed me the most was Gordon, that hopeless ball into nobody at the end which got them down the pitch. Nothing was on. Hold it up, take it down the pitch. Just not that.”
Gordon looks set to leave Newcastle as Liverpool links refuse to go away
Gordon has been a standout in the Champions League for Newcastle this season, but illness saw him drop to the bench for the Barcelona clash, and Howe may well be regretting putting him on after his error.
He has failed to produce anything close to what is expected of him in the Premier League so far, with four goals and two assists in 23 appearances up to now.
The 25-year-old has long been linked away from Tyneside, and sources have recently told Football Insider that Liverpool are well placed to sign Gordon this summer ahead of Arsenal.
He will hope to be given the chance to rectify his error by starting at the Camp Nou next week, with the Champions League now Newcastle’s last hope of glory as they falter in the Premier League.