'No malice': Eddie Howe speaks out about Anthony Gordon's red card against Brighton and whether NUFC will appeal

It was another bad day on Tyneside on Sunday as Newcastle United were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup on their home turf by Brighton and Hove Albion.

Once again, it wasn't just the defeat, but the manner of the defeat that has us riled up. After taking the lead on 22 minutes, Newcastle seemed to adopt a 'job done' attitude as they so often do.

Alexander Isak had the ball in the back of the net a second time in the first half but had mistimed his run and was caught offside, but that seemed like the end of the attacking threat the Magpies posed until second half stoppage time when Fabian Schar fired home from close range, only for the Semi-Automated Offside Technology to rule him offside by a shoulder.

Worst of all, Anthony Gordon, who was pretty poor all afternoon, lost his head on 83 minutes and shoved Jan Paul van Hecke to the ground earning himself a straight red card. Replays showed that the shove was right in the face of the Brighton defender, making it pretty difficult for Newcastle to argue with.

Anthony Taylor loves ruining Newcastle's Wembley chances

The red card may have contributed to the result, but just seven minutes later things were evened up when Tariq Lampety was dismissed for a second yellow card, so the one-man advantage didn't last long, so it can't be seen as the ultimate contributing factor. What's more annoying about the whole thing is that - even though he has been off it lately - Newcastle will now be without Anthony Gordon for the Carabao Cup final.

Just like two seasons ago, Anthony Taylor sent off a Newcastle United player in the run-up to the final, making them miss the Wembley trip. Newcastle may look to appeal the red card, but we don't expect to have much luck with it, even Eddie Howe didn't sound convinced speaking to The Chronicle after the game yesterday.

"Knowing the player, I know there’s no malice intended there. Of course, we’ll reserve the right to put in an appeal. If we analyse the incident and feel there’s grounds for that, then we will do it without hesitation."

Is something going on with Anthony Gordon behind the scenes?

If 'no malice' was a solid defence we may have a shot, but the fact remains, Gordon raised a hand to Van Hecke's face and that's a red card, even if they try and say that van Hecke was pulling Gordon's shirt before that, you just can't go for someone's head, whether intentional or not.

Obviously, we don't know what is going through the players' heads, but I was saying to my mate during the game that something just doesn't seem right with Gordon. He seems distracted lately, and losing his head like that only added fuel to the fire.

If that's the case, it still doesn't mean he gets away scot-free, he's still dented our Carabao Cup hopes and deserves to be punished for that, but at the same time, we have to remember he's still human and flinging abuse at him won't help anything (not that I've seen anybody doing that).