ANTHONY GORDON has admitted he was as flummoxed as the remainder of St James’ Park as round 5 minutes of VAR checking preceded the award of his match-winning purpose towards Arsenal.
Gordon scored the one purpose of the sport final evening as he stabbed home from shut vary in entrance of the Gallowgate End, however three separate VAR checks meant he was unable to correctly have fun within the quick aftermath of his strike.
VAR officers checked whether or not the ball had gone out earlier than Joe Willock crossed it into the center, whether or not Joelinton had fouled Gabriel and whether or not Gordon had been in an offside position when he discovered the web from contained in the six-yard field, however ultimately allowed the purpose to face.
Eddie Howe felt the ultimate choice was the fitting one; Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta vehemently disagreed. Gordon, however, freely admits he didn’t have a clue what was occurring.
“I’d just been put to play as striker, so I was in the box,” stated the January signing from Everton. “There were a few ricochets – I thought Joelinton was going to score – then as it dropped, I just tried to react quickest. Fortunately, I did.
“As far as the VAR was concerned, I was just praying – I didn’t know what was going on. In the end, I was just really happy that it got approved.”
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Gordon was switched to the centre-forward spot when Callum Wilson was withdrawn, having additionally led the road in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The 22-year-old performed as a central striker throughout England Under-21s’ profitable run on the European Championships final summer time, and whereas he may need spent the vast majority of his profession taking part in in a large position, he has proved he’s a greater than succesful deputy as a ‘number nine’.
“It’s been really good,” he stated of his positional change. “I’m comfortable playing there. I’ve got to play it a unique way because I’m quite different to the strikers we’ve got already, but I feel really comfortable. I played there in the summer (for England Under-21s) so I’m just trying to add my own little bit of flair to that position.”
Last evening’s victory over a beforehand unbeaten Arsenal accomplished a superb week that additionally noticed Newcastle arrange a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie towards Chelsea.
“The last ten days has shown the unity and togetherness that we’ve got,” stated Gordon. “We had some really difficult fixtures, and we’ve got through them together. A lot of players are injured, a lot of players are struggling, but we’re sticking together and we’re getting through the games.”
