Ange Postecoglou was not happy after Newcastle United beat Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
The Magpies came from behind to make it six wins in a row, as Alexander Isak continued his incredible form in front of goal.
He netted Newcastle United’s winner, but it was the equaliser that was clouded in controversy.
Anthony Gordon scored it, but there was a handball appeal in the buildup. As Tottenham tried to play out from the back, Lucas Bergvall fired the ball at Joelinton. It hit his hand, but there was nothing the Brazilian could do to avoid it. It was ball to hand, with Joelinton’s arm clearly in a natural position.
Moments later and the ball was in the net, much to the anger of everyone associated with Tottenham Hotspur.
What Ange Postecoglou said after Newcastle beat Tottenham
Following Newcastle’s win at Spurs, Postecoglou was furious when asked for his opinion on the Magpies’ first goal.
“No, because I know what everyone wants me to say, but all I’ll say is that on any other day, on a fair and even playing ground, we would have won that game,” he said.
“Simple as that. Don’t keep asking me about the decision. If you guys have no opinion about it, that’s fine. I know what my opinion is and, as I said, if that was a different day and it was an even and fair playing ground, we would have won that game.”
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Eddie Howe disagreed with Postecoglou, insisting that Newcastle were deserved winners.
Alan shearer responds to Tottenham manager complaining
Now Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has responded to Postecoglou’s complaint on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast, with the former Toon striker insisting that the Aussie boss is wrong.
“I think they [Newcastle] had to show a different side to what they’ve sort of shown in the previous five or six games,” he said.
“In a lot of the games that have been on the front foot and they’ve been scoring goals for fun. They had to dig a bit deeper yesterday, particularly second half, you know, defensively.
“Ange Postecoglou had a moan about the referee. He had a rant, didn’t he, after the game where he said the same answer five or six times. I’m presuming it was about the referee.
“But what he failed to mention was that Newcastle should have had an absolute certain penalty when Anthony Gordon had his nose broken with that challenge.
“But I guess he’s moaning about the handball law, the one that hit Joelinton’s hand when Tottenham were again, after two minutes of taking the lead, trying to play stupidly, trying to play out from the back.”
Shearer was then asked if he thought it was a handball by Joelinton.
“No. I hate the handball law, but under the current guideline, that is not handball. The one at Anfield today was. You can’t argue with that when De Ligt had his hand above his head. That under the law is a handball. The one for Joelinton is not. If that’s the one that Ange was on about then he is wrong.”
Newcastle extend their run with a ‘different’ performance
During this run of form, Newcastle United have been dominant. They have been blowing sides away, and some had predicted that would happen again on Saturday due to Tottenham’s fitness issues.
It was actually a very tight game, but one that Newcastle deserved to win – despite Postecoglou’s stance.
For the handball appeal – I do not see what else Joelinton can do. His arm is in a natural position – he does not move towards it.
While it would be annoying to see it go against you, the rules are the rules.
After that, I struggle to understand why Postecoglou thinks Tottenham should have won. Sure, they dominated the second half, but they were hardly peppering the Newcastle goal. Eddie Howe’s side sat back and contained Spurs, while Martin Dubravka was not forced to make any spectacular saves.
The Magpies showed their defensive resilience to dig in and pick up another three points, as this spectacular run of form continues.