Eddie Howe on Newcastle penalty incident in Brighton defeat

Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall watch on during Newcastle’s defeat to Brighton (Image: Owen Humphreys)

NEWCASTLE United’s coaching team are “adamant” they should have had a first half penalty against Brighton – with boss Eddie Howe admitting the early incident was a key moment as the Magpies went on to fall to their first home defeat of the season.

Newcastle burst out of the blocks and pinned Brighton back early on and felt they should have had a penalty after just eight minutes for a Joel Veltman handball in the box.

Referee Peter Bankes waved away the claims and Brighton survived a VAR check. Howe hadn’t seen the incident back by the time he spoke to the media after the game but members of his support staff had and were insistent Newcastle should have been awarded a penalty.

Newcastle burst out of the blocks and pinned Brighton back early on and felt they should have had a penalty after just eight minutes for a Joel Veltman handball in the box.

Referee Peter Bankes waved away the claims and Brighton survived a VAR check. Howe hadn’t seen the incident back by the time he spoke to the media after the game but members of his support staff had and were insistent Newcastle should have been awarded a penalty.

The frustration for Howe is that the incident came at a time when the Magpies were dominant

“A couple of our coaches have and they’re adamant it was a penalty.

“If I look at it back and have the same view as the coaches it will be a huge frustration because we were totally dominant at that point.

“When you have that start in a game you want a goal for your endeavours. That was all that was missing in the first 35 minutes.

“If we were 2-0 up we’d have thought it was one of our best performances in a long time. Goals change perceptions of performances and I have to keep some kind of perspective on that.”