Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has confirmed a fracas down the St James’ Park tunnel led to assistant manager Jason Tindall’s bizarre red card.
The Magpies ran out 3-0 victors over Aston Villa at St. James’ Park in what was their fourth straight win ins all competitions.
Despite the comfortable scoreline, it was an incredibly fiery contest throughout.
Referee Anthony Taylor blew for a whopping 25 fouls over the course of the game but only issued three yellow cards.
However, it was the two red cards that were undoubtedly the biggest talking points from the Toon.
The first belonged to Villa striker Jhon Duran, who was shown a straight red in the 32nd minute for a challenge on Fabian Schar.
Duran and Schar tussled for a long ball but the Newcastle defender fell to the ground as he made a clearance following a slight shove from the former.
As Schar fell to the turf, Duran’s left foot slipped and the studs on his right foot momentarily landed on the Newcastle man’s back.
Duran looked to quickly remove his foot and apologised to the referee as soon as he stood up.
But Taylor was in no mood for remorse and brandished a red card.
Duran was irate as he walked off the field and sent a water bottle flying.
However, managers from both sides felt Taylor’s decision to send Duran off was the wrong one.
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“For me, not [a red card],” Villa boss Unai Emery said.
“It is completely not. I can accept it if another team asks for a red card. But use and confirm VAR please. Now the punishment is three matches.
“His reaction after was with the player being sorry. Then we can try to analyse if he kicked him or not. I don’t think he kicked him purposely. Please use VAR.”
Emery also confirmed Villa will appeal Duran’s red card and attempt to get his three-game suspension rescinded.
Howe understands Emery’s frustrations, saying: “I thought it was maybe harsh, that was my gut feel.
“I was a little surprised the red card came out.”
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The Duran red card proved to be the spark that lit the fuse, as tensions between the two managerial teams reached boiling point.
Shortly after Duran’s departure, Tindall had Emery fuming when he put his finger to his lips as if to silence the Villa boss without even casting a sideways glance at the Spaniard.
The drama continued to unfold at half time when the teams headed back to the dressing rooms.
According to multiple reports, a scuffle involving around 20 people from both teams, including Tindall and Villa analyst Victor Manas, kicked off.
When asked if a 20-man brawl transpired, Howe confirmed it.
“I don’t think that’s far off,” Howe said.
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“These things always start out I don’t think with the intention of it happening in the way that it did.
“There was probably 17 or 18 people trying to calm it down, but what it looks like is there are more people involved.
“No one wants to see that, it’s not at all how I want my players or staff to be, but sometimes you have to stand up to what you think is right and protect each other.
“It was frustration spilling out from the first half, but of course we’re all standing up for ourselves in that moment, protecting ourselves.”
Tindall did not return to the dugout for the second half as Newcastle confirmed on their social media he had been sent off.
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But the loss of Howe’s right-hand man for the second half mattered little, as goals from Alexander Isak and Joelinton capped off a strong performance, kickstarted by a divine curling effort from Anthony Gordon.
The win lifted Newcastle to fifth in the table on 29 points.
As for Villa, they slipped to ninth but are just one point behind the Magpies.