EPL

Lopetegui baffled by Madley decision to spare Pope penalty punishment as Newcastle beat Wolves

By Sports Desk March 12, 2023

Julen Lopetegui claimed Wolves were denied a "very, very clear penalty" by referee Andy Madley in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.

Wolves were furious in January when they had a late goal disallowed for offside against Liverpool in the FA Cup at Anfield, and they remain convinced that was an injustice.

Madley was also the man in the middle that time, with Wolves denied what would almost certainly have been a winning goal as the game finished 2-2, with Liverpool going on to edge the replay 1-0 at Molineux.

That incident has not been forgotten by Lopetegui, and he was aghast at Wolves being denied a spot-kick early on against Newcastle at St James' Park.

Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope took a poor touch and gave away the ball to Wolves striker Raul Jimenez, before seeming to bundle the Mexican to the floor.

Wolves wanted a penalty and a red card but got neither, and Lopetegui said afterwards: "It's true that, for me, it was a very, very clear penalty for us. We are very unlucky with the referee. This is a pity for us.

"It doesn't matter what I think. The more important thing is that this is true that we have suffered a big mistake a lot of matches ago at Liverpool, and for me [Sunday's incident] was a penalty, but the VAR can't help in this case the referee. We were very unlucky with the decision. We didn't have a penalty since I arrived here."

Alexander Isak headed Newcastle ahead in the first half, but Hwang Hee-chan brought Wolves level in the 70th minute.

The visitors sat deep and were punished by a fine finish from Miguel Almiron nine minutes later.

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe told Sky Sports he felt there would have been no justification in awarding Wolves a penalty for the clash between Pope and Jimenez, which came when the game was goalless.

Howe said: "I didn't think it was a penalty at the time. You might say I was biassed, but I didn't. I thought it was Jimenez going down before the contact was made, that was my initial assessment."

Substitute Almiron delighted Howe with his contribution off the bench, having been a regular starter up to now.

"Not that he necessarily needed to give a response, it was a case of us just trying to freshen him up," Howe said. "It's an outstanding season that he's had, he's contributed in lots of different ways, and you see the work rate he gives every week. He made a massive impact, and I'm delighted for him."

Howe was glad to halt a five-game winless run, with the Magpies jumping above Liverpool into fifth place.

"I just think it reignites us," he said. "Hopefully it re-sparks us into action and restores confidence levels to where they should be."

Related items

  • Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras qualify for Concacaf Gold Cup Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras qualify for Concacaf Gold Cup

    Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras all qualified for the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup following the results of their matches on Saturday in the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League.

    Haiti defeated Montserrat 4-0 to claim the top spot in Group B of League B to clinch their Gold Cup place.

     Canada topped Curacao 2-0 to secure at least a second-place finish in Group C of League A, thus qualifying them for the Gold Cup. Even though they were not in action, the Canada win also assured Honduras a berth in this summer’s Gold Cup as well.

     Costa Rica will also play in the Gold Cup again after rallying late from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 2-1 win in Martinique in Group B of League A.

     Haiti, Canada, Costa Rica and Honduras join the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Panama and Jamaica as teams that have punched their ticket to this summer’s tournament.

     The winners and second-place finishers from the League A groups and the winners of each group in League B group will directly for the Gold Cup.

     The second-place teams from the League B groups and the third-place teams from League A will join the winners of each League C group in the Gold Cup Prelims.

     

  • Juventus midfielder Kostic out of Serbia squad with Achilles injury Juventus midfielder Kostic out of Serbia squad with Achilles injury

    Juventus midfielder Filip Kostic has been ruled out of Serbia's Euro 2024 qualifier against Montenegro with an Achilles injury.

    The 30-year-old played a full part in Friday's 2-0 win over Lithuania and set up Dusan Tadic's early opener.

    But Kostic will not be available against Montenegro at Podgorica City Stadium on Monday, having returned to his club side for treatment.

    "It's bad news for us," Serbia head coach Dragan Stojkovic said at Sunday's pre-match press conference. "He left the team because he has Achilles tendinitis.

    "There is no need to take any risks with him. The decision was to return to the club. I'm always sorry when a player gets injured – there's nothing worse for a coach."

    Juventus will hope to have Kostic available for a busy run of fixtures when they return to action later this week.

    Massimiliano Allegri's side have nine games in April across three competitions, starting with Saturday's Serie A meeting with Hellas Verona at the Allianz Stadium.

    Kostic has played in 38 of Juve's 39 matches this season – only Danilo has featured as regularly – and has a team-high 11 assists to go with his three goals.

  • England 2-0 Ukraine: Saka stars as Three Lions stroll England 2-0 Ukraine: Saka stars as Three Lions stroll

    Bukayo Saka was instrumental and Harry Kane was again on target as England strolled to a 2-0 win over Ukraine in Euro 2024 qualifying.

    Having become England's all-time leading scorer in the 2-1 win over Italy in Naples, Kane broke the deadlock in the 37th minute at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

    England's captain converted a superb cross from Saka, who then put the hosts in complete command three minutes later.

    A comeback was never on the cards after the Arsenal star's long-range effort, with England firmly in control of Group C with six points from two games. 

    England had struggled to break down Ukraine before Saka produced a whipped delivery to the far post, where Kane was waiting to fire into the bottom-left corner with aplomb.

    After teeing up the first, Saka then produced a second out of nothing, bending magnificently into the top-right corner.

    Ukraine were improved in the second half, but did not even manage a corner until the 73rd minute, illustrating England's comfort in seeing out the victory.

    England withdrew Kane late on to hand Ivan Toney his England debut, and Gareth Southgate will surely have several opportunities to introduce new faces if his side's qualifying campaign continues in this serene fashion.

    Toney's fellow substitute Conor Gallagher forced a smart stop out of Anatolii Trubin before Harry Maguire headed over and Jack Grealish went close, with the only frustration for England being a failure to add further gloss with a third.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.