Richard Keys on Newcastle 3 Man City 3 – I was getting worried as agreeing with him but then relieved…

Richard Keys has been talking about Newcastle United, yet again.

However, on this occasion I found myself actually agreeing with him.

A very worrying development.

Richard Keys praising Newcastle United for playing so well against Manchester City and stating that NUFC deserved to get something from the match against the reigning champions.

Then our old mate taking it to another level, saying what a disgrace it was that no penalty was given for Stones’ cynical challenge / assault on Fabian Schar in the Man City box just before half-time. Making no attempt to play the ball it was a clear and obvious penalty, apart from in the view of the referee and the VAR official.

Thankfully, Richard Keys then reverted to type, finding a way(s) to undermine / dilute this excellent day for Newcastle United and their fans.

Firstly, he wants to downplay the quality of Kieran Trippier’s goal. Wanting to instead blame it on Ederson.

I’m sorry, but the position that ASM won with his excellent run that ended with Stones stopping him illegally just a few yards outside the middle of the penalty area, meant that the England man (Trippier) could go for either top corner. If he got perfect execution in either right or left (top corner) then near impossible for Ederson to save it.

That is what we got.

Perfect execution of the free-kick from Kieran Trippier into the left top corner AND impossible for the Man City keeper to prevent the goal, in my opinion.

Secondly, Richard Keys somehow wants everybody to be convinced that Kieran Trippier should have been red carded, instead of the reduction to yellow due to the intervention of VAR.

The reality was that replays showed that the challenge was a cynical one BUT not a dangerous one, Trippier simply taking de Bruyne’s legs away, tripping him. Keys insists that because it was a tactical (cynical) foul to stop Man City with no attempt to play the ball, then that alone is enough to morally justify a red card. Well if that is the case and cynical / tactical fouls should automatically be punished by a sending off, how many red cards should Man City have had??? I reckon a handful should have gone for purely fouls that ASM was the victim of, including the one where Stones took him down for the free-kick that led to Trippier’s free-kick goal. Stones stayed on the pitch but should have had two red cards according to Richard Keys, as his challenges on both Schar and ASM had him with only eyes on taking the man out, not going for the ball.

Richard Keys personal blog – 22 August 2022:

‘I can’t remember enjoying a day of PL football quite as much. What a day (Sunday) – and fair play to both Leeds and Newcastle for taking lead roles in making it so.

Let’s start with the Toon. They were terrific. I said on beINSPORTS at half time that they’d played as well as any team I could think of over 40 minutes against the champions.

I say 40 minutes because City were a goal up in five of course. Newcastle could easily have folded. The game plan could very easily have gone out of the window. But no – they shook themselves down and caused City all sorts of problems for the rest of the half. And they went in deservedly leading.

West Ham had a really good go at City at the back end of last season. They led 2-0 at ht – but I made Newcastle’s near-half more impressive because they’d already conceded. And they should’ve had a penalty. Anywhere else on the pitch John Stones clumsy challenge on Schar is a free-kick. So why isn’t it when that sort of thing happens on the box? Refs will tell you ‘because there’s got to be a higher threshold in the box’ Why? It doesn’t say that in the laws of the game. It was a foul. It should’ve been a pen.

If I’m being picky there’s no way Ederson should let Trippier’s free-kick in. It’s his side. The ball didn’t go round – or over the wall. It went adjacent to it. Ederson’s positioning was awful.

Having said that I’m glad Trippier scored. The atmosphere was terrific inside the ground – just as it used to be – and it gave City a big problem.

But the one thing you know is that the Champions will come back at you. I’m sure they’ll face similar – perhaps worse situations in the CL this season – so it was a good challenge for them. And I think they’d have won it if Trippier had rightly been sent-off. There was no need for VAR to get involved. Jarred Gillet got it right. Did he make a ‘clear and obvious’ error? No. Ok, so Trippier’s lunge turned into a trip – but it was wild and it was excessive. He was definitely threatening the well being of an opponent. So stay out of it VAR. And, of course, we all know the outcome when a ref goes to the monitor, because Mike Riley has instructed everybody that VAR makes the final decision. I just wish Gillet had had the bollocks to stay with his original call – but he knows full well that he wouldn’t be involved next weekend had he done so. It’s all so wrong.

Btw – the ‘tactical’ foul is the curse of the modern game – and something has got to be done about it. That’s another reason why Trippier should’ve gone.

In the end – honours were even and probably rightly so. The next step Newcastle have got to make is to be able to do that when the likes Bournemouth come to town and the atmosphere isn’t anywhere near as electric, but Eddie Howe appears to be making genuine progress at the club.

The PL needs teams like Leeds and Newcastle – and the excitement they can generate on days like Sunday.’

Stats from BBC Sport:

Newcastle United 3 Manchester City 3 – Sunday 21 August 4.30pm

Goals:

Newcastle:

Almiron 28, Wilson 39, Trippier 54

Man City:

Gundogan 5, Haaland 60, Bernardo Silva 64

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Man City 69% (68%) Newcastle 31% (32%)

Total shots were Man City 21 (9) Newcastle 12 (8)

Shots on target were Man City 10 (5) Newcastle 6 (5)

Corners were Man City 5 (0) Newcastle 5 (4)

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance:  52,258 (Man City 3,000)

Newcastle United:

Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn (90+5 Krafth), Willock (Sean Longstaff 70), Bruno, Joelinton, Almiron (Murphy 83), Wilson (Wood 69), Saint-Maximin

Unused Subs:

Dubravka, Lascelles, Ritchie, Anderson, Fraser

(3 Positives and 3 Negatives from Newcastle United 3 Manchester City 3 – Read HERE)

(Newcastle United 3 Manchester City 3 – Match ratings and comments on all the NUFC players – Read HERE)

(Can’t believe what this Newcastle United fan said as we walked out after Man City 3-3 draw- Read HERE)

(Allan Saint-Maximin to be shock late entry into France national squad for Qatar World Cup finals? Read HERE)

(Newcastle United 3 Manchester City 3 – Instant NUFC fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)

(Newcastle United 3 Manchester City 3 – Alan Shearer speaks for us all – Read HERE)