Minteh strike cancelled out amid VAR uproar at the Amex

Yahoo

04-05-2025

Albion saw a precious lead slip away amid penalty confusion at the Amex.
Yankuba Minteh's first-half opener against his old club was eventually cancelled out from the penalty spot by Alexander Isak.
A point apiece was not of great use to either side in their slightly different pursuits of Europe.
And it turned into a torrid second half for referee Craig Pawson, with three penalty incidents in the spotlight.
Albion welcomed back Jan Paul van Hecke to the starting line-up and Adam Webster and Igor to the matchday 20.
But there was no Kaoru Mitoma, whose knack of getting into central areas has been so valuable during the recent absence of Joao Pedro.
Newcastle, without Joelinton, named the XI which started the previous game against Ipswich.
The Albion changes meant a return on the right for Minteh against his old club and he needed early attention for what looked a blow to the knee as his side made quite a cautious start.
Bart Verbruggen had to hold a couple of early crosses, one aerial and the other along the deck.
Pawson also seemed to think he got a touch to a low drive from Harvey Barnes after
Mats Wieffer and van Hecke got in a tangle to allow him in to the left of goal. Newcastle were penalised at the subsequent corner.
Albion offered little – and looked short of ideas of how to play their way through when Toon were set in their shape.
But, after a decent little spell of pressure they went ahead just before the half-hour. Toon dealt with a dangerous cross by Simon Adingra.
But the ball was worked to Minteh on the right edge of the box.
He cut inside Tino Livramento, then Sandro Tonali and, with his shot found a gap inside the far post, with a deflection off Dan Burn.
It was a great moment for Minteh and there was some sort of exchange between him and the away fans afterwards.
It was also against the run of play. As Newcastle sought a riposte, Verbruggen had to tip over van Hecke's mis-directed header and hold a curler from Bruno Guimaraes.
But Albion finished the half quite strongly and went in with an advantage.
Quite a bright start to the second half by the Seagulls saw the ball nicked away from Danny Welbeck in front of goal after Minteh seemed to have picked him out.
But Fabian Hurzeler opted for his first change as Wieffer, on a yellow for delaying a free-kick in the first-half, was penalised for his challenge on Tonali.
Newcastle fans half-heartedly chanted 'off, off, off' and Hurzeler took that option by sending on Tariq Lamptey.
When Anthony Gordon then went on for the visitors, it meant both players red-carded in the FA Cup tie between these sides had been introduced.
Pawson pointed to the spot on 57 minutes when Gordon tripped over Lamptey's dangling leg – only for VAR Andy Madley to tell him it happened just outside the box.
It was not Madley's last involvement. When Joe Willock went down 14 minutes later as van Hecke shaped to tackle, the well-placed Pawson thought long hard and again signalled for a spot kick.
But it looked a dive and the referee decided as much after being invited to the monitor.
The visitors, though, DID have a spot kick on 88 minutes, after another VAR check and delay. Yasin Ayari was ruled to have handled Fabian Schar's free-kick, conceded somewhat contentiously by van Hecke, and Alexander Isak sent Verbruggen the wrong way.
Both teams might have won it in nine frenetic added minutes.
Diego Gomez headed horribly wide from a superb free-kick curled in by his fellow substitute Brajan Gruda.
And Verbruggen made a very sharp save from Wilson's blast.
Albion: Verbruggen; Wieffer (Lamptey 54), van Hecke, Dunk, Estupinan; Baleba, Hinshelwood (Ayari 69); Minteh (Gomez 90+4), O'Riley (Gruda 90+3), Adingra (Veltman 69); Welbeck. Subs: Steele, Igor, Webster, Howell. Goal: Minteh 28. Yellow card: Wieffer, Welbeck. Newcastle: Pope; Trippier (Krafth 90+7), Schar (Botman 90+7), Burn, Livramento; Guimaraes, Tonali, Willock (Wilson 74); Murphy (Gordon 56), Barnes, Isak. Subs: ubravka, Botman, Wilson, Gordon, Krafth, Osula, Longstaff, Miley, Neave. Goal: Isak pen 88. Yellow card: Willock Referee: Craig Pawson