Bernardo Silva feels all the 50-50 decisions are going against his side despite red card escape
Bernardo Silva of Manchester City challenges Dan Burn of Newcastle
It’s not been a good few weeks for Newcastle United and referees. Even the usually mild-mannered Eddie Howe has felt the need to criticise officials in post-match press conferences after some shocking decisions have gone against the Magpies.
From the ridiculous penalty call in the Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain, through to the decision to send Jacob Ramsey off for what was, let’s be honest, a stumble, United fans, players and coaches have been left scratching their heads at best, but usually downright furious.
There was Joe Willock’s goal at Tottenham disallowed for the narrowest of offside margins, when others in similar situations have been given, and the Aston Villa debacle where red cards, offsides and penalties were missed.
Then there was the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City less than two weeks ago, when Newcastle felt aggrieved over two key calls.
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Firstly Dan Burn was clearly pushed into an offisde position before heading home what would have been United’s second equaliser of the night, before City star Bernardo Silva somehow avoided a second yellow card when ‘challenging’ Burn for a header, and instead opting to turn and jump fully into the Newcastle defender.
But wait. Apparently, it’s Manchester City who are on the wrong side of 50-50 decisions at the minute.
Yes, that claim was made following their 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, a result which put a major dent in the title ambitions, by Silva himself no less.
City were frustrated not to have been awarded a penalty when they led 2-1 as Erling Haaland went down after knocking the ball past opposition goalkeeper Matz Sels. The incident was checked and cleared by VAR, but City captain Silva felt it was the wrong decision.
“So, if Erling is running and the goalkeeper just crashes into him, what can he do, just disappear?” he said.
“I just think that all the 50-50s this season have gone against us – all of them, and it’s quite frustrating because, at the end, it makes a big difference in the title race.”
All of them. He actually said ‘all of them’.
You can get too hung up about refereeing decisions, of course, but that’s all a bit rich considering Newcastle are still smarting from a series of clangers from officials.
And it could add an extra touch of spice to Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round clash at St James’ Park, when the two sides meet for the fifth time this season.
United won the Premier League encounter on Tyneside earlier this season, but City came away with a 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg success in January.
It has all the makings of another feisty affair, and Silva admits there are trophies on the line for Pep Guardiola’s side, with a Champions League last-16 tie with Real Madrid following next week.
“In these few weeks we’re not going to win a lot (of trophies), but we can lose a lot,” he added.
“This month can keep us alive to fight for the competitions until the end or it can put us down and we just go for one or two competitions. Hopefully, we will still be in all four of them in a month’s time.”
As far as Newcastle are concerned, they would just be happy to get some decisions go their way for a change – starting on Saturday night.
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