The Magpies made it into the fifth round of the FA Cup despite of a horror show from the officials
Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United talk with referee Chris Kavanagh at Villa Park
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Newcastle United senior duo Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier urged team-mates to 'stay cool' as their FA Cup tie at Aston Villa threatened to get out of hand last night.
Greater Manchester referee Chris Kavanagh and his linesmen made a serious of glaring errors and found themselves under worldwide scrutiny as the game was beamed out across the globe. It started when Tammy Abraham netted a goal that was clearly offside before Lucas Digne then escaped a red card for a shocking challenge on Jacob Murphy.
But the chaos continued in the second half when Digne handled in the box after a Kieran Trippier cross. Kavanagh did not point to the spot but awarded a free-kick which Trippier stayed calm for and clipped into the area before Emiliano Martínez half-cleared before Sandro Tonali struck an equaliser.
It was an inept display by Kavanagh and his team of officials and followed on from the referee being involved in more controversy in midweek during Sunderland's game against Liverpool. Then, Kavanagh apologised to Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris after he decided against giving a foul after Brian Brobbey and Ibrahima Konate challenged in the penalty box.
“The referee recognised his mistake at half-time, the penalty," Le Bris revealed afterwards. "It was a pen."
It remains to be seen if Kavanagh has held his hands up and apologised to United for his mistakes. The eventual victory at least eased tensions for Newcastle, but by then the world was debating how bad the officials had been.
Burn told reporters after the match: "It is tough and you get emotional. When those things happen in a game, it is hard to keep your composure. But I did think we dealt with it pretty well considering there were a few that didn't go our way."
Trippier also kept the Magpies calm despite a clear outrage at Villa Park. He said: "There's no VAR - the penalty incident, I'm sure it was a penalty. But this is football, you have to react to disappointments, and we did that. Villa posed a threat with 10 men but that third goal was crucial."
Head coach Eddie Howe was asked after the game whether he'd have felt angry had the decisions cost him a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup. He said: "Maybe slightly I'd feel different to how I feel now. Maybe I'm a bit more philosophical about it now. I can't imagine how I'd have felt."
Howe added: "That was certainly a tough first half for us. Obviously, we have the benefit of replays on the bench, and you could see what was right and wrong.
"We felt really aggrieved in that first period that every decision seemed to be going against us. But the officials don't make any decisions on purpose. It's what they think at the time. But without VAR I thought there was a lot of errors today."
Howe also paid tribute to his team for keeping so calm, he went on: "Our players did well to control their emotions and not get themselves sent off for something. It did feel strange.
"The penalty for handball, I could see it from where I was. It did feel like it was one of those days where it wasn't going to happen.
"It's not easy to play against 10 v 11 to break down a stubborn defensive unit, and I think we did that really well in the second half."
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