‘Never let them know your next move’: Newcastle United star responds to viral moment

Newcastle United’s 92nd minute win against Brighton in the US Summer Series got a lot of people talking. But not about the win itself. In fact, it’s goalkeeper Nick Pope who has gone viral for his on-pitch antics.

Playing his first 90 minutes of pre-season after recovering from an operation on his hand which saw him sit out United’s final game of the season, Pope proved himself to be back to his full abilities, making a handful of important saves and clearances.

The one that caught everyone’s attention, however, was in the 74th minute when he ran out of his box to clear the ball with a header- putting it out of play for a Brighton throw-in.

Brighton’s Simon Adingra went to take a quick throw in order to catch Pope out, hopeful to put the ball back in play whilst the goalkeeper was off his line. But Pope has proved himself to be far too clever. Immediately, Pope kicked a second ball onto the pitch, forcing the Seagulls to retake the throw-in so he could get back to the empty goal. Naturally, he received a yellow card for his antics.

The moment has now gone viral, sending Newcastle fans into a frenzy and angering pretty much everyone else with many saying he deserved a red card and not a yellow.

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And now Pope himself has responded. Sharing SportBible’s post (which has over 100,000 likes) to his Instagram story, the goalkeeper cheekily said: ‘Never let them know your next move,’ alongside the crying with laughter emoji.

It’s turned out to be a divisive moment, but for Newcastle fans it was an amazing one.