Newcastle United 1-0 Southampton: Joe Buck match reaction

Shields Gazette

Joe Buck reacts to Newcastle United's 1-0 win over Southampton. A goal from Joelinton earned all three points for Eddie Howe's side. Fabian Schar was sent-off just 30 minutes into the game after an altercation with Ben Brereton-Diaz.

Transcript

00:00So, Newcastle United have got their Premier League season off to a winning start with

00:04a 1-0 win against Southampton. Joe Linton was the winner just before half-time but I

00:09think this game will be remembered for that controversial incident involving Fabian Scherr

00:13and Ben Berrett and Diaz which saw Scherr get red-carded less than 30 minutes into their

00:18game. So Newcastle had over an hour, or just about an hour with 10 men and they did really

00:22well. It was, yeah, it was a good start for Eddie Houseside. Just look at the game overall

00:26for a second, it was a good start for Eddie Houseside. They came in, they've got the win,

00:29that's about as much as you can ask for really on the opening day of the season. They've

00:33got that win and they're going to be hopeful that they can kick on from that, especially

00:36with Bournemouth and Tottenham to come before the international break. But yes, as mentioned,

00:42the game will be remembered for the Fabian Scherr red-card. It was a tentative opening

00:48from Newcastle. I think they'll be slightly disappointed with the opening, especially

00:50with 11 v 11. I think they burst out the blocks really in the first couple of minutes but

00:54then after Southampton were really good, they controlled possession, they were getting a

00:59little bit of joy. I think that's a try at press. Sorry to hear the beeps, I think that's

01:03Nick Pope's trial on the digger there. But yeah, Southampton burst out the blocks really

01:10well and controlled the first 20 odd minutes. I think they had a couple of chances but nothing

01:15to write home about. And then the incident came. A ball was played over the top, the

01:19referee had already blown the whistle and then about three or four seconds went by Fabian

01:26Scherr, hearing the whistle, stopped in front of the ball. Ben Burton and Diaz came in,

01:30hit him, well not hit him but shoulder barge his back almost. Scherr fell to the floor,

01:35got up, reacted by pushing the Chilean and then coming together between the two, the

01:42heads came together. I think it was a very, very harsh red card. I think that Diaz has

01:47made the most of it. He's fell down very theatrically. I think he might be embarrassed by that, I

01:53think, tonight when he looks back. I think a lot of people always say Scherr may give

01:57the referee a decision to make and he maybe has but I do think that in a game like that

02:02with VAR and technology, you can give the referee a decision to make but the technology

02:05should acknowledge the fact that there was no headbutt, it wasn't a thrust, it wasn't

02:09anything like that. So I think that he got something really hard done by with that decision.

02:13I think that was one to be very disappointed by, the fact that the technology hasn't overruled

02:18that. Craig Poston was straight away giving a red card. It was a really awkward one. I

02:22think that, yes, Scherr maybe does give the referee a decision to make but I don't think

02:25that's any sort of excuse. This is a reason for a red card. It wasn't a red card. If anything,

02:31Brent Diaz shoved on Scherr beforehand, it's obviously more dangerous and if you're looking

02:36as a child, if you're looking to set an example as a child, the rules are there for red cards

02:42to stop incidents like this. If you want to stop these incidents, stop children or young

02:48players being influenced by these, I think you should be more worried about Brent Diaz.

02:54First, the contact in the back, Scherr's obviously unguarded, that can cause a serious injury.

03:00Rugby League have banned, or Rugby in total, back shots are an absolute no-go. So that's one,

03:05obviously not the same level, but that's one to consider. And then again, Diaz's reaction to fall

03:09on the floor was embarrassing really and I think, obviously, Scherr, yes, he probably shouldn't have

03:15done it. But I think it was not a very good decision from Creighton. Yeah, and it really

03:22sort of set Newcastle back and they made the changes. Jacob Murphy came off, Emile Craft

03:26came on, he went into midfield and then they shifted from 4-3-3 to 4-3-2. Anthony Gordon

03:31played alongside Isak up front. And they really weathered the storm. They couldn't break them down,

03:36but they had the majority of the ball, as expected. But to be fair, Newcastle were stuck in it

03:40and, yeah, they capitalised on the one mistake. Alex McCarthy, the goalkeeper,

03:45passed it straight to Alexander Isak. Isak took a couple of touches, squared the ball, Joe Linton,

03:49it was in the box, slammed it home in 1-0. That was about the 43rd minute, so that was just before

03:53half-time. And to be fair, they never really looked back after that. Second half, Southampton

03:57dominated the ball, but they didn't really have anything. I think Newcastle were very content

04:00for large parts. They had a couple of headers, a couple of shots and they had some dangerous-looking

04:03players, but you never really felt that you were going to score. Never really created a

04:09gilt-edge opportunity, other than one where Lewis Hall, to be fair to him, did sort of hook it off

04:13the line. But yeah, so for a 1-0, a bit of an incident, packed one. And yeah, Newcastle would

04:20be, as I mentioned, happy. I think Eddie Howe will be happy they've got the win, and that's all

04:23that really matters, as I mentioned before. But they're now without shares out for three games,

04:27potentially. They said they might appeal, but there's no way that's going to get out. I'd be

04:30shocked if that gets overturned, especially since they are looked at in technology. Harsh red card,

04:35but they're now without a share for three games. It's just Bournemouth awake and Newcastle

04:38haven't had the best recent record there. Nottingham Forest in the cup, potentially. Whether he would

04:42have played that game, I'm not sure, but he can't now, so there's no option. And then, of course,

04:46Tottenham at home, so that'll be a big misser. All those three games, it was a very... It wasn't

04:52any controversial fielding in the afternoon, but one you're going to have to be happy to get out

04:56of. And yeah, I think a win, obviously a good win, and they'll be happy with that, but certainly room

05:02for improvement. One mention of Joel Inton, who scored the winner, he was immense today.

05:06Nick Portman made some crucial saves. Sean Longstaff and Bruno Kimaresh in midfield

05:10were absolutely fantastic. So yeah, there was lots of positives from the day, but

05:16there will be things to improve on, and of course Fabian Scherz can be a big miss. But ultimately,

05:20all of that pales in almost insignificance when you get the win on the opening day of the season,

05:24and they look forward to the next few games. And obviously, at the end of the transfer window,

05:28that's another thing with Scherz, red card. Does that force a hand on the Mark Gahey deal? Do they

05:33go out and get someone else? Because three games isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things,

05:36but it shows that as soon as you lose Scherz, your depth isn't really there. But yeah, it'll

05:44be interesting to see how that plays out over the next few games. But the end of the story

05:47is we got a win on the opening day of the season against Southampton.

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