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Newcastle United latest news: TNT Sports have released footage of the incident between Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier during the Magpies’ win over Qarabag in the Champions League.
Newcastle United enjoyed an almost perfect first 45 minutes at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium as they stormed into a 5-0 lead over Qarabag.
Having travelled to Azerbaijan with the hope of securing a positive result in Baku to bring back to St James’ Park for the return leg next week, a 5-0 lead at half-time was a barely believable scoreline. Certainly, the defending by the hosts left a lot to be desired, but Newcastle United’s quality and relentless pressure on their opponents ensured that they would be made to pay for their sloppiness.
Anthony Gordon’s early strike came after a simple ball from Dan Burn sliced open the defence, whilst Malcik Thiaw rose highest to nod home a delicious Kieran Trippier cross to put his side two goals to the good. A third from the penalty spot quickly became four when Gordon, scorer of both goals, rounded the Qarabag goalkeeper following a mistake at the back to tap home into an empty net.
Gordon then added a fifth for his team, his fourth of the night, from the spot just before the break. Gordon had been the man to be fouled for the penalty before he dusted himself off to slam home another from 12 yards.
Heading into the tunnel 5-0 ahead should have been cause for celebration all round, but as the two sides headed into the break, cameras at the game caught Kieran Trippier and Gordon involved in a heated debate with each other with their teammates intervening to keep the pair apart. As the two teams came out for the second half, TNT Sports showed the footage of Trippier and Gordon’s disagreement and then revisited the moment post-match as the pair were interviewed by Jules Breach.
Trippier, who wore the captain’s armband in Baku, described what happened at that moment and defused the situation: “Gordon scored a hat-trick and I was thinking about the other players and why they may have [wanted] to take a penalty,” the former Spurs man said.
“But of course he [Gordon] is our taker and he wants to score goals, as everyone else does. Ultimately, he’s our penalty taker and emotions are high but it is what it is. He scored four goals and was unbelievable today and now we move on.”
Eddie Howe reacts to Kieran Trippier & Anthony Gordon incident
In his post-match press conference, Howe was also asked about the incident involving Gordon and Trippier: “Yeah, I'm not 100% sure what happened in that moment,” Howe admitted. “The TV cameras may have known more than I do at this moment in time, I’ll need to fully understand what happened.
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“I think Anthony actually wanted to take the second penalty. I understand why there's a debate over it. Sometimes that's not clear. In this, two in one game, he took both penalties superbly. I'm pleased with that.
“I think Kieran's only ever tried to help the team. So I think it's a positive situation rather than a negative.”
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