The crowd was buzzing and were pushing their team on when Everton winger Anthony Gordon went down in the penalty area following a soft challenge from Newcastle’s mammoth English defender Dan Burn, just before half-time.
Captain Kieran Trippier rushed over to call out the young talent, saying he was not impressed. Tempers started flaring as Gordon charged back towards the right back, reportedly calling him a “twat”.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 19: Anthony Gordon of Everton and Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United square up to each other after Anthony Gordon of Everton dived in the penalty area during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Everton FC at St. James Park on October 19, 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The pair faced off before Swiss international Fabian Schär intervened to defend his captain and put Gordon in his place.
A host of players joined in from both teams and the brief melee demonstrated the fighting spirit and the game’s importance in the early days of the season before the referees and supporting staff had to calm things down.
Schär and Gordon were brandished yellow cards after everything settled down.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 19: Nick Pope of Newcastle United steps in as tempers flare between the Newcastle United defence and Anthony Gordon of Everton during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Everton FC at St. James Park on October 19, 2022 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The fans though absolutely loved the bust-up. Twitter is filled with praises for the unity and team spirit shown by the Newcastle United players.
Manager Eddie Howe spoke about the incident to ChronicleLive and was quoted saying “I always say to the players you really have to stand up for each other on the pitch. You have to be like a family on the pitch…I always urge them to stay very emotionally level while also having each other’s backs.”
The hosts eventually ended the 90 minutes with a 1-0 victory and 3 points which propelled them to 6th on the table, just 2 points adrift of 4th place Chelsea.
Everton, on the other hand, dropped down to 15th and just a point above the relegation zone after failing to muster anything from their last 3 matches.
The Magpies certainly were up for the task against the physical side from Merseyside. They now have kept 5 clean sheets and leaked the fewest goals in the division with 9.
Credits have been showered on the manager since he took over with quality signings, shrewd tactics, improvement of specific players & a long-missing fighting spirit, which is paving the way for a possible top-4 finish by the end of May.
Last season it was Joelinton, this season it’s Miggy. What Eddie Howe has done in improving players who I thought were finished is something else. #NUFC 👏🏼
With managers getting sacked so much, the job Eddie Howe has done and time he has lasted is testament to him. Despite it only been a few years many bantered the appointment and said he’d be a short term manager that would only last months and is there to fill in the cracks #nufc
Fortunes have certainly been in favour of Newcastle United after the takeover of the club by a consortium consisting of PCP Capital Partners, Reuben Brothers and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia in October last year.
Money can help with a lot of things but certainly cannot buy the mentality & fight shown by the players against Everton. Newcastle United are the one to watch the season.
