When Newcastle United and West Ham drew 2-2, Alan Shearer acknowledged that Bruno Guimaraes was “fortunate” not to receive a red card.
On Sunday, October 8 at the London Stadium, the Hammers got a point in a back-and-forth game, but Bruno, a Brazilian midfielder for the Magpies, was the flashpoint.
He was initially reserved for a ride on Emerson Palmieri, and shortly after that, he got away with a harsh challenge on James Ward-Prowse.
Shearer, a former player for Newcastle, acknowledged that his team ought to have had 10 men on the pitch during Match of the Day 2 (8 October, iPlayer 53:05).
To be clear and to make it clear that there was no bias, he stated, “I thought it should have been a red card.”
“In my opinion, there ought to have been two yellow cards. Bruno didn’t agree with this one, but he does put his leg out there and it is appropriately a yellow card. Then, 90 seconds later, you get the second tackle; fortunately, it was Sandro Tonali’s fault because he made a horrible pass there.
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“On another day, I think the correct decision would have been a yellow card or a red card so Newcastle got away with one there.”
Could have changed the game
In the end, a tie with a team that had just destroyed Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League is arguably not the worst outcome, especially when taken in isolation.
Newcastle, though, was not at all competitive in the opening period, and if Bruno had been dismissed – as he absolutely should have been – the outcome of this game could have been significantly altered.
We all want to speak about what is happening on the pitch, not the refs, which is why nobody really wants to do it every week. However, it can be extremely upsetting when kids consistently fail to make choices that should be so simple as this one.
Bruno himself said he should not have been booked for his clip on Emerson, but it was a clear and deliberate act. The second one is even more of a blindly obvious caution. He should have been heading for an early bath, there are no two ways about it.
