They say revenge is a dish best served cold but Eddie Howe didn’t realise he was serving any dish at all when he finally got his own back on Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season.
Newcastle United qualified for the Champions League on the last day of the Premier League campaign but they came close to messing it all up.
Eddie Howe’s side were dreadful as they lost their crucial match against Everton, yet were saved by an unlikely source as Manchester United defeated Aston Villa to give Newcastle fifth place on goal difference.
There was a big controversy at Old Trafford, though, as Morgan Rogers saw a goal disallowed for a foul on Altay Bayindir when the scores were 0-0.
However, replays showed there was no foul, but VAR couldn’t intervene as referee Thomas Bramall had already blown his whistle.
Aston Villa are furious and have launched an official complaint to PGMOL, with the decision likely costing them a place in the Champions League.
For once, a massive slice of luck fell Newcastle’s way and Harvey Barnes couldn’t wait to inform his teammates of the good news upon the full-time whistle.
For Howe, it’s sweet revenge on Villa five years in the making after another controversial decision saw him relegated from the Premier League in 2020.
Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
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How Aston Villa relegated Eddie Howe from the Premier League
Howe enjoyed two sensational stints at Bournemouth, taking them to the top flight for the first time in 2015 and keeping them there for five years.
However, they were relegated in 2020 after finishing just one point behind 17th-placed Aston Villa.
But there was more to the controversial relegation than meets the eye, as Villa benefited massively from a goal-line technology blunder that potentially saved their skin.
Towards the end of a season that was curtailed by the pandemic, Villa collected a crucial point in a 0-0 draw with high-flying Sheffield United.
However, the Blades should have taken the lead when goalkeeper Orjan Nyland carried the ball over his own line, but referee Michael Oliver never received notification that a goal had been scored in the melee from the Hawk-Eye technology.
The company apologised in the aftermath of the result, saying in a statement: ‘Seven cameras located in the stands around the goal area were significantly occluded by the goalkeeper, defender and goalpost.’
That offered little consolation to Bournemouth, who, if Sheffield United had won that game, might have stayed up on goal difference.
There was a brief discussion of the Cherries taking legal action over the costly error, but nothing ever came of it.
Howe would leave Bournemouth for a second time that summer before being hired by Newcastle just over a year later in November 2021.
So, it all worked out well for the Magpies in the end and Howe managed to benefit from a catastrophic error five years on for a sweet piece of revenge.
Mike Dean’s reaction to the controversial decision in Man Utd vs Aston Villa
John McGinn was shellshocked at full-time after missing out on the Champions League, bemoaning the ‘incredible’ decision that cost his side dearly.
Former referee Mike Dean was also in disbelief at the call, as he explained during Sky Sports’ Soccer Special.
He said: “He’s got to get the ball, the keeper. It hits one hand and then it has come out on its own accord, he’s done that himself.
“The ball is free and the attacker has got every right to go for the ball.
🗣️ "I don't think he has both hands controlling the ball!"
🗣️ "No chance!"
Morgan Rogers scores after poking the ball out of the hands of Altay Bayindir but the referee had already blown the whistle so the goal is not given ❌ pic.twitter.com/TY3n4WGMi2
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 25, 2025
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“He hasn’t got the ball under control, I think the referee, Tom Brammal, thinks he has, but for me he hasn’t.
“So, for me, the goal should be given.
“The only thing I would say, because I haven’t got commentary on here and I think you have, did the whistle go before the ball hit the back of the net? [It did] It won’t be a goal then.”