Newcastle Left Baffled By Penalty Call On Thursday

Newcastle United potentially missed out on an opportunity from the spot to extend their lead at Goodison Park after Sean Longstaff was wiped out inside the box.

Will Eddie Howe’s side finish in the top four?

Everything is seemingly going to plan for Newcastle at the moment with Champions League football now a serious possibility with just six games remaining.

The Toon endured a heavy defeat away to Aston Villa the other week, however, they have bounced back in style having scored 10 goals across their following two games.

Adding to their own success on the pitch, results went their way on Thursday night with Tottenham Hotspur managing to claw back a point against Manchester United.

This now leaves the Magpies eight points clear of Spurs in fifth place and with a game still in hand.

Although they won’t grumble at a 4-1 win away from home, perhaps Callum Wilson could have been handed an opportunity from the spot in the second half.

Indeed, with the scoreline just 1-0, Longstaff received a late challenge having played the ball across the box but no penalty was given.

And footage of the incident has emerged on social media with James Tarkowski’s late challenge clearly catching the Englishman:

Should this have been a penalty?

It is hard to suggest Tarkowski’s late lunge was rewarding of anything other than a penalty and a card with it being so late on the Newcastle midfielder.

And perhaps the biggest frustration is that the incident happened when the scoreline was still so tight.

Obviously, looking back on the incident, it did not play any major role in how the remainder of the game panned out, however, had Everton managed to salvage something from the game it would’ve been a huge talking point.

Longstaff has become a key member of Howe’s midfield having racked up 32 appearances in the Premier League with 27 of those coming from the starting XI (via Transfermarkt).

In those games, he has been able to provide a goal and four assists and although he would not have got the assist if the penalty was given and scored, it would have been another example of his involvement.

This is not the first time Longstaff will feel hard done by inside the opposition’s box with their game earlier in the season away to Wolverhampton Wanderers also providing a controversial penalty call.

Thankfully for the 25-year-old, the points went his way on Thursday night, otherwise, he would’ve left Merseyside with an awful lot to complain about.