Anthony Gordon can still play in Carabao Cup final on one condition
Ross Gregory
5 – 6 minutes
Anthony Gordon’s red card for Newcastle United on Sunday means the forward will miss the Carabao Cup final as things stand. The winger was given a straight red card in the 83rd minute after pushing Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke in the head.
Gordon is set to miss their next three matches following his straight red card in the FA Cup fifth round tie against Brighton. As Gordon’s push is regarded as violent conduct, he is now set for an extended spell on the sidelines, unless Newcastle opt to appeal and the decision is overturned.
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The first of the three games he will have to sit out is next weekend’s Premier League meeting with West Ham. In a devastating blow for Eddie Howe’s side, he will also miss the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on Sunday, March 16 as bans are served across domestic competitions.
The final game of Gordon’s suspension will be their Premier League home fixture against Brentford on April 2. The 24-year-old will then return for their away meeting with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on April 7.
Newcastle United do have the chance to appeal Gordon’s red card, however, offering the player a glimmer of a lifeline. Eddie Howe hinted in his post-match interviews that the Magpies could consider appealing the red card but whether they will be successful remains to be seen.
Howe does have the brief hope of getting the red card rescinded thanks to the power of the FA’s appeals process. According to the FA’s guidelines: “All red cards can be appealed with the exception of those for use of offensive or insulting or abusive language/gestures and receiving a second caution in a game.
“Please be aware that for an appeal to be successful, you must be able to prove that the referee made an obvious error in sending the player off.” VAR chose not to intervene with referee Anthony Taylor’s decision to brandish the red card and this is usually, but not always, a sign that an appeal would not be successful.
Should the appeal be successful, there are two potential outcomes. The first is that the red card is rescinded completely; the second that the ban is reduced to one game which would rule Gordon out of the West Ham clash on Monday but make him available for the cup final. Arsenal recently had Myles-Lewis-Skelly’s red card overturned on appeal.
Howe, speaking in his press conference after going out of the FA Cup, said: “I have not seen it (Gordon red card) – I only saw it live. It is very difficult to form an opinion from what I saw on the pitch.
“I don’t know what his intention was. I am sure it was not to harm or get the red card, in that moment I don’t know quite what has happened.
“But I need to review it properly before forming my opinion. If that (a ban) is the case I am so disappointed for him and the team. Knowing the player I know there is no malice intended there. But I think at the moment I can only concentrate on today’s game and pick the players up after that.
Taylor was in no doubt about the decision he needed to make and the forward is now set to miss the next three matches. In the build-up to the incident, Alexander Isak was in an offside position but the assistant referee delayed his call to raise the offside flag due to VAR being in operation. Eventually, the whistle did blow before Gordon’s coming together with Van Hecke but analysing the incident in the Match of the Day studio Danny Murphy and Rooney had differing views.
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“It was a moment of madness because the whistle had already gone which he’d obviously heard, we saw it with Matheus Cunha for Wolves as well the other day and now he’s going to miss arguably the biggest game,” Murphy began. “You just see him at the top of your screen there, the whistle’s just gone there look.
“He just lashes out.” Showing sympathy to Gordon, Rooney added: “This is where I think, if the linesman puts his flag up, none of this happens.
“Now they’re waiting for the VAR to step in and almost referee the game for them but if he puts his flag up that doesn’t happen.”
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