Eddie Howe’s classy Newcastle United response to full-time boos from Liverpool fans

Newcastle United were booed off the pitch by Liverpool fans at full-time.
Newcastle United were booed off the pitch by Liverpool fans.  (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)Newcastle United were booed off the pitch by Liverpool fans.  (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Newcastle United were booed off the pitch by Liverpool fans. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool fans booed Newcastle United off the pitch following Fabio Carvalho’s last-gasp winner at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Tempers boiled over when Carvalho struck in the 98th minute. That was despite the fourth official signaling for just five minutes of stoppage time.

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Despite the defeat, Magpies supporters applauded their team, who took a first-half lead following Alexander Isak’s debut goal before Roberto Firmino equalised on the hour-mark, at full-time.

But as Eddie Howe and his Newcastle players headed down the tunnel, the home fans booed and jeered those in black and white.

Asked about the reaction of Liverpool fans, Howe provided a classy response.

He said: “My ideal is that we’re booed off every week when we go to away grounds because you don’t want to be popular, we’re here to win, we’re here to compete and we’ll do whatever it takes to try and win.

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“I was proud of my players from start to finish. There were absolutely no concerns on any part of our play that disappointed me.”

Responding to claims of ‘time-wasting, Howe said: “You have to consider and take into account we had a day’s less preparation.

“Our players have emptied their tanks in every game. You look back to the Wolves game, we gave everything in that match.

“There was some fatigue, a couple of players going down with cramp. It has to be expected with the physical effort they’ve given today.

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“There was no gamesmanship, that was just how the players were feeling at that moment.”

Still, there were question marks as to why referee Andre Mariner allowed the game to go on three minutes longer than the stoppage time allocated.

Howe said: “It seems like the final whistle was never coming from our perspective but because it never came, we had to defend that situation better than we did.

“It’s a cruel game, these things happen.

“(I’m) hugely frustrated with that last action. Someone else needs to tell me if we should have still been playing, I don’t know.”