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“Staggered at that” – McCoist says he spotted a huge referee mistake in Newcastle v Chelsea
Ally McCoist took aim at a referee decision as Newcastle United and Chelsea battled out a frantic 2-2 draw in the Premier League.
Newcastle denied victory by Chelsea comeback
Nick Woltemade’s double had the Magpies 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, but Eddie Howe’s men wilted amid a second-half fightback, fuelled by the pace and trickery of Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro, after Reece James’ curling free-kick reduced the deficit.
However, it was Pedro who ensured his side left with a deserved point when he fired home a 66th-minute equaliser to end a run of three successive league defeats for the Blues on Tyneside.
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PIF have already had past contact over the forward.
Newcastle needed just four minutes to get their noses in front when Sandro Tonali won possession in the middle of the field to allow Bruno Guimaraes to feed Jacob Murphy down the right, and although keeper Robert Sanchez did well to block Anthony Gordon’s attempt at the far post, Woltemade followed up to smash the rebound into the roof of the net.
They increased their lead with 20 minutes gone when Lewis Hall played a free-kick wide to Gordon, who cut inside Neto and crossed for Woltemade to toe-poke the ball past the stranded Sanchez, although the goal was only awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside.
Although Enzo Maresca’s men rallied as the half-time whistle approached, they were unable to find a way back into the game and almost conceded once again when Woltemade steered another Gordon cross just wide.
However, the visitors reduced the deficit within four minutes of the restart when, after Ramsey had been penalised for a foul on Cole Palmer 25 yards out, James expertly curled the resulting free-kick wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s dive and in off the post.
The Blues were then level within nine minutes when Malick Thiaw slipped as Pedro controlled Sanchez’s clearance to allow the striker in behind him and he raced away to finish with aplomb.
Ally McCoist spots huge referee mistake
Amidst the drama of goals galore, it was referee Andy Madley who stole the headlines when he decided against awarding Newcastle a penalty. The moment of controversy came when Anthony Gordon ran across Trevoh Chalobah as the Chelsea defender eased him to one side.
The decision was subject to a VAR check, but still failed to result in a penalty. TNT pundit McCoist looked at the incident and claimed that the Magpies should have been awarded a spotkick.
“I think it’s a penalty, I really do. I think he’s trying to usher him out but takes him out. It’s a penalty, as simple as that. It’s a stonewall penalty. I’m staggered at that.”
Howe will be left ruing what could have been a comfortable afternoon for his side after watching Newcastle concede their 2-0 lead after the break and settle for a point.
