On another day, the Magpies might have won at Craven Cottage, although the spritely Andy Johnson was the difference between the two teams. The striker took advantage of a defensive mix-up for the first Fulham goal in their 2-1 win, while the second was scored from the penalty spot after the forward was felled. Joe Kinnear was fuming with the wrong man afterwards…
The Newcastle interim manager was cross as cross can be with Martin Atkinson, who apparently failed to notice the former Everton man push Claudio Cacapa in the back, before running into the area and being brought down by Coloccini. Setanta reports that JK has called the referee ‘Mickey Mouse’, although perhaps he should be blaming his hapless defenders for the defeat instead.
“We finished the first half better and dominated the second. There was a blatant foul prior to the penalty, which the referee ignored,” began Kinnear.
“We were camped in their half. Cacapa was on the ball and Johnson completely pushes him out the way, nicks the ball and gets the penalty.
“We’ve got the Mickey Mouse referee doing nothing. He’s made an error that cost us.”
The Newcastle boss has conveniently ignored the fact that Cacapa and Coloccini messed up for the first goal, while should the latter really be getting pushed out of the way by a diminutive striker in the build-up to the penalty decision? How many referees would have spotted that shove, something that takes place throughout many matches?
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