Newcastle: Ex-Premier League referee reveals his verdict on Gordon appeal after ‘harsh’ red card

Two ex-Premier League referees have delivered their verdicts on whether Newcastle United star Anthony Gordon could have his red card vs Brighton overturned.

The Magpies were dumped out of the FA Cup by Brighton on Sunday afternoon, losing 2-0 after extra time.

It was a chaotic cup tie as goals from Yankuba Minteh and Danny Welbeck turned the match around after Alexander Isak’s penalty.

There was drama in the final stages of normal time. Gordon was shown a straight red card for an aggressive push on Jan Paul van Hecke before Tariq Lamptey was dismissed for two bookings in stoppage time.

Gordon will now serve a three-match ban and will miss Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool if they are not successful with an appeal.

Speaking post-match, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe claimed Gordon’s red card “looked harsh”.

“Well, it looks harsh, but we’ll have to analyse it properly,” Howe told ITV.

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“I’ve not seen a replay of it. I was just going on my original view. I thought it looked harsh, but we’ll see and then see what we do next.

He added:  “I think I’d need to see it again properly to see exactly what happened. It was just a mass of bodies in my first viewing.

“Anthony obviously didn’t mean any harm. I’ve only seen him very briefly before coming out to you. He was really disappointed.”

When asked if Newcastle planned to appeal the decision, Howe replied: “Possibly.”

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett does not think there was a “clear and obvious error”.

“When you place your hand, or hands, into the face of the opponent with a degree of force, it really leaves the referee – in this case Anthony Taylor – little option other than to show a red card and dismiss the player from the field,” Hackett told Football Insider. 

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“There’s no clear and obvious error, there’s no VAR intervention on that one, Taylor had no option other than to dismiss him.”

Ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher reckons Newcastle would have “no chance” with an appeal.

“I think it was a very unwise thing for Anthony Gordon to do,” Gallagher said.

“The whistle had gone, play should’ve been stopped and for whatever reason he chose to take a very, very unwise action. Once you put your hands on the player’s face like he did and he put both as well, a really aggressive pushing motion. I think it was inevitable he was going to get a red card.

“Why it’s a big talking point is because of the Carabao Cup coming up. He’s now going to miss that game unless he wins his appeal which I would suggest he has no chance whatsoever in my opinion.

“Appealing against a red card decision like that, you have to prove the referee has made a clear and obvious mistake. I don’t think when you look at the images anybody can say he has made a clear and obvious mistake.

“Whether they will appeal that a three-match ban is too much is a different matter. I can’t seriously see them winning an appeal and getting a three-match ban overturned whatsoever.”