'Nothing I could do': Anthony Gordon reacts to Ezri Konsa's red card as Aston Villa and Newcastle play out stalemate
It's easy to say in hindsight that had Newcastle United had a striker on the pitch yesterday, they'd have beaten Aston Villa comfortably.
The stats support that theory, especially in the first half, where Newcastle amassed eight shots at goal while Villa didn't have a single attempt, but the fact that only two of those shots were on target and none breached Marco Bizot's goal does suggest that there was something missing for Newcastle.
Other than Anthony Elanga's effort in the opening minutes, Newcastle's best chance to break the deadlock came in the second half when Elanga played a perfect through ball for Anthony Gordon to run clear of the Villa defence, but England defender Ezri Konsa opted to pull back the Newcastle forward, resulting in a straight red card.
There's no guarantee that Anthony Gordon would have gone on to score, but Konsa wasn't willing to take that risk, it seems.
Anthony Gordon claims Ezri Konsa could have caught him
Speaking to BBC Radio Newcastle after the game, Anthony Gordon reflected on the incident, saying he didn't understand Konsa's thinking.
“I don’t understand it from a defender’s point of view. Ez is my mate actually, so it’s quite funny but if I’m a defender I’d probably rather let them score than get a red card.
“Because then you stay on the pitch and you’ve still got that chance. And he [Konsa] is quite quick, so he could have actually caught up to me.
“But he took a decision and there was nothing I could do.”
Ezri Konsa protesting the decision is what really got us
The most baffling thing about Ezri Konsa's thought process was the fact that he protested the decision. You'll not see a more blatant red card all season, yet Konsa turned to the ref to question him. Unbelievable.
We're not sure we agree with Gordon's claims that Konsa could have caught him. If that were the case, we doubt he'd have done what he did.
It's the second season in a row for Newcastle now that they've seen a red card in the opening game, with Fabian Schar sent off against Southampton last year. At least this time it went our way.
