Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United reacts having being shown a red card by referee Simon Hooper after an on-field VAR review overturns the decision to award a yellow card for a foul on Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United reacts having being shown a red card by referee Simon Hooper after an on-field VAR review overturns the decision to award a yellow card for a foul on Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Newcastle United are losing 1-0 to Liverpool and are down to 10 men at half-time at St James’ Park.
Ryan Gravenberch gave Liverpool the lead despite a dominant opening 35 minutes from Newcastle.
Then on the stroke of half-time, Anthony Gordon was shown a straight red card after referee Simon Hooper was prompted to check the VAR monitor.
Hooper initially awarded Gordon a yellow card for a cynical challenge on Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk. It’s Gordon’s second sending off at St James’ Park in 2025.
Premier League issue Newcastle United sending off statement
The Premier League Match Centre, which posts statements explaining VAR decisions during matches on X, posted the in stadium quote from Hooper explaining his VAR overturn.
The statement read: “#NEWLIV – 45+1’ VAR OVERTURN After VAR review, the referee overturned his on-field decision of a yellow card to Anthony Gordon. Referee announcement: “After review, the Newcastle United number 10 commits a serious foul play challenge. The challenge is with speed and makes clear contact on the Liverpool number 4's calf. My final decision is red card to Newcastle United number 10.””
Newcastle then went in trailing 1-0 at the break and without a recognised striker and Gordon now facing a three-match ban.
Newcastle United striker woes worsen
After losing Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak going on strike, Newcastle started the new season without an established striker available.
Gordon started the opening two matches up front but now The Magpies are left in a worse situation with Will Osula, who has not started a Premier League game for the club, the only available striker in the squad.
It only emphasises the need for Newcastle to act in the transfer market and bring a striker in before the September 1 transfer deadline. The club have recently seen bids rejected for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Jorgen Strand Larsen.
When asked about Gordon starting up front against Liverpool, Howe said: “Yeah, I think he's done it enough to do the job really well for the team.
“I've got no issue playing him there. I've played him there a number of times, both as a starter and as a substitute.
“He plays it differently to maybe other strikers, but that can be a positive in the respect that he's got devastating pace.
“He's got a really good work ethic and, of course, he's scored goals historically from wide. And if you look at a lot of those goals, yes, some will be from wide areas, but some will be from central areas.
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“So I think you can overplay sort of the change of position. I think he enjoys the role. I thought he played really well last week in lots of different phases of this game.
“Of course, it would be analysed by the one big one, which is all strikers are judged on their goals. He had a lot of chances, a lot of shots. So I thought it was a really good display from him.”
Like Isak, Gordon has also been targeted by Liverpool for a transfer with talks held last summer with Newcastle under PSR pressure. Gordon was understandably open to joining his boyhood club but a deal didn’t materialise and instead he got his head down, signed a new contract and Newcastle and played a key role in their Carabao Cup success, despite being suspended for the final against Liverpool.
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