Mo: United are positive about point
MAGPIES HAPPY TO HANG ON FOR DRAW AT THE END OF INJURY TIME
crowded area. Replays, however, showed it was actually Mo Diame on the line who blocked it with his arm. Swansea players appealed for a penalty and then Carlos Carvalhal remonstrated with fourth official Neil Swarbrick before complaining after the game VAR now needs to be introduced. Had the referee spotted Diame’s indiscretion then a red card and a penalty appeared inevitable...
Just seconds after the Diame incident, the Magpies players ran off celebrating, believing they had taken the lead. Ritchie’s corner found Perez at the front post, who nodded it on towards Gayle.
The Newcastle striker then directed a header past Lukasz Fabianski and into the net. The assistant referee rightly flagged for offside, Gayle standing almost a yard behind the deepest Swansea defender.
Just four minutes after the interval Newcastle - who had dominated the first half - had another excellent chance to take the lead. Ayoze Perez nicked the ball midway inside the Swansea half, he fed Gayle in the box and the Newcastle forward decided to unleash an effort early, but he only managed to drag a shot across the face of goal. It was a poor finish and it set the tone for a disappointing second-half display from the home side. Swansea’s intensity rose during the second half and that unsettled United. At one stage, defender Ciaran Clark attempted to clear a Swans cross but ending up slicing it and merely kicking the ball into the back of colleague Jamaal Lascelles’ legs, conceding a corner in the process.
Since the Ivorian has returned to South Wales, he has yet to rediscover anything close to his best form.
Introduced as a second-half substitute, Bony found himself in space inside the Newcastle area with the scoreline at 1-1 - and you could feel the tension around St James’ Park.
However, when the forward went to unleash a shothe missed the ball and merely landed an air kick much to the amusement of home fans.
First it was Alfie Mawson, then it was Ayew. During the last 10 minutes both players were guilty of smashing the ball into the stands when Newcastle were awarded a free-kick in order to waste time. On both occasions, yellow cards were rightly produced.
When Benitez decided to substitute Shelvey for Mikel Merino during the final 10 minutes, the former Swansea midfielder was not impressed. Shaking his head as he left the field, he then ignored Benitez - who had stuck out his hand towards Shelvey. After the game Benitez played down the incident, while it is believed Shelvey also apologised to his manager - but the petulance shown by the England international was picked up on by the media.
Newcastle fans turned up hoping to see the Magpies claim all three points but by the full-time whistle they will have been grateful to see United even secure a draw. As the game opened up during injury time, Swansea broke on the counterattack and, after Karl Darlow had rushed off his line, Bony had the opportunity to score. He fired in a shot from the edge of the area but two Magpie defenders had retreated on to the line - and DeAndre Yedlin was the player who cleared the ball. MO Diame admits Newcastle United are not getting too downbeat about picking up just a point against Swansea City.
The Magpies had to come from behind to take a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park on Saturday, but the former Senegal international looked to take the positives from the clash against Carlos Carvalhal’s side.
United ended the weekend in 15th place and three points above the relegation zone and Diame said after the game: “When you play at home to Swansea you are disappointed not to win it.
“We have to take the positive things from it.
“We did not lose this game, despite it being a difficult one.
“I think we could have scored in the first half and made the game easier for us but, yeah, it is a point and we have something from it in the end so we just have to take it and keep working.”
Newcastle are now sitting on 23 points for the season with another 45 to play for and Diame feels Newcastle will get to their goal in good time before the season finishes.
The last two Premier League campaigns on Tyneside have gone down to the wire with Newcastle avoiding relegation in 2015 before dropping into the Championship a year later.
Diame added: “If we can win it is great. If you can draw at least you have not lost and we are picking things up.
“We just have to keep going as we are. The more we play the shape of the team is stronger.
“Yes, we did have opportunities to score and did not take them.
“After that, it was not easy to keep our shape but we just need to think about the next one now.
“It will not be easy at Man City and we will have to work hard.”
Diame was at the centre of a row over a possible first-half penalty for Swansea at the weekend with Carvalhal stating that use of VAR would have resulted in a spot-kick and a red card for the Toon midfielder.
Diame was asked by the Chronicle about the decision and replied: “It all happened very quickly, to be honest.
“I just saw the ball and wanted to move my body but my arm went quicker than my body.
“It was not a goal, I am happy about that. That is it.”