Eddie Howe is weighing an appeal against Anthony Gordon’s red card in Newcastle’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton, as the England forward faces a three-match ban that would rule him out of the League Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle.
Gordon was sent off in the 83rd minute of Sunday’s 2-1 loss at St James’ Park for violent conduct after shoving Jan Paul van Hecke in the head. If the decision stands, he will miss the Wembley showdown against Premier League leaders Liverpool on March 16.
Asked about a potential appeal, Howe said, “Of course. If we analyse the incident and feel there are grounds for that, we will do it without hesitation. I’d need to see it properly, but knowing Anthony, there’s no malice intended. He plays hard, and I want him to be competitive, but I don’t see an issue at this moment.”
Newcastle took the lead in the 22nd minute when Alexander Isak converted a penalty after Yankuba Minteh fouled Tino Livramento.
However, Minteh, who left Newcastle for Brighton last year, made amends by equalising just before half-time.
Gordon’s red card was followed by Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey being sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card. With the game in extra time, substitute Danny Welbeck struck the decisive goal in the 114th minute, sending Brighton through to the quarter-finals.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler praised his team’s resilience: “Not only the character, also the performance was quite impressive. Of course we had some setbacks during the game, but we reacted always in a very special way,” he said.
“We stayed very calm, we found a good balance between defensive stability and controlling the game in possession. Then we had, of course, some phases of the game where we had to suffer, but in the end, we did it in quite an impressive way.
“We always stayed together, we always found the right solution on the behaviour of Newcastle and therefore I’m pleased with the character, but also the performance.”
