Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry has suggested that the Newcastle United players did not try hard enough to bring a foul to the referee’s attention.
During Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium, there were a few moments that the Magpies may feel hard done by.
In the build up to Tomer Hemed’s goal, Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez felt that Chancel Mbemba was fouled by Brighton captain Bruno.
In the Sky Sports studio, Henry agreed with the Spaniard, but has claimed that the players did not do enough to protest it.
During the broadcast, the Arsenal legend said:
“None of the Newcastle players are arguing, making the job easy for the referee. You don’t want players to surround the referee and put him under pressure, but if you don’t question it as the team that concedes the goal, what should the referee do?”
There was another moment of frustration for the North-East club when goalscorer Hemed committed an apparent stamp on DeAndre Yedlin.
The incident occurred in the 89th minute of the Premier League match, but was not spotted by the match officials.
After the match, Brighton boss Chris Hughton told reporters that the stamp was not intentional, but there is a chance that the striker could face retrospective action if an FA panel deems the action punishable.
If the governing body feel that there is a case to be made, the Israel international could be hit with a three-match ban.
As it stands, Brighton reside 13th in the Premier League table, while their fellow promoted side Newcastle sit ninth after six games.
