Newcastle 1 Southampton 1 match report: Coaches sent off for scuffle in injury time

Foul leads to bench-clearing fracas between clubs’ back-room staff at end of thrilling draw

Mauricio Pochettino admitted the scenes which accompanied Southampton’s first point in a league game at St James’ Park since 2001, were not acceptable.

During seven minutes of injury time, tempers flared between the back room staffs of both benches as they cleared to confront each other after a foul by Morgan Schneiderlin on Massadio Haidara.

Andy Woodman and Toni Jimenez, the two teams’ goalkeeping coaches were sent to the stands by the referee Mike Jones, who himself had been floored earlier in the game by Moussa Sissoko when he accidentally slapped the referee in the face.

“What happened at the end of the game is not a good example for football,” Pochettino said. “We will try our best so it does not happen again. It is avoidable. In a high intensity game like that any little spark can lead to that. It is something we regret and we don’t want it to ever happen again.

“This is English football. these things happen here. Perhaps in other leagues it would not happen. It is a very aggressive game and there is a lot of energy.

“Let’s stay calm. We need to be calm about what happened. We need to keep it indoor and not make a big thing about it.”

Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager, claimed there should be no repercussion for the clash between opposing dugouts that ended with the dismissals of Woodman and Jimenez. “It wasn’t a brawl and the game wasn’t spoilt by it,” he said. “It was panto season, I’m not getting carried away by it. It should not take the headlines. It was pretty pathetic what I saw of it and best forgotten. I had my back to it. I said to their manager, ‘Get your staff in and I will get mine in and we will get on with it’.”

It was a game that had everything, including a bloody nose for Jones. Paulo Gazzaniga and Sissoko had come together in an aerial clash that left the Southampton keeper grounded. He pushed the leg of the Newcastle midfielder, who involuntary raised an arm that floored the referee.

“The ref has a bloody nose,” added Pardew added. “He is trying to patch himself up for the Christmas party. It was a flick out at the goallie and all a bit silly. Unfortunately he ended up with a bloody nose.”

That was in the 90th minute, by which time the teams were level. Yoan Gouffran had scored in the fourth home game running for his side to put Newcastle ahead in the 27th minute when he reacted quickly to a mistake by Jos Hooiveld.

Loïc Rémy had seen a shot in the first-half from close range cleared off the line by Calum Chambers. In the 66th minute Southampton, who were more vibrant after the break, had taken their equaliser.

Davide Santon erred in the Southampton half and the pace of their break caught Newcastle. Steven Davis and the excellent Jay Rodriguez played a one-two to go through the Newcastle defence and the latter slipped his shot home.

There was still drama. In the 73rd minute Gazzaniga sliced a clearance to Rémy. The on-loan forward, who has scored eight goals this season, had the goal at his mercy from just over 12 yards, St James’ Park readied itself but somehow he shot well wide. That let-off added to the rousing finish.

“I think overall in the 97 minutes we played the draw is the fair result,” Pochettino said. “Perhaps we could have even got some more. Both halves were different. The first half was wide open. In the second half Southampton dominated the game and could have gone on and won, but a draw is a fair result.”

Pardes said that he was proud of his team. “It was a good game,” he said. “The team has been brilliant in this spell. We edged it today. It was a terrific game. We had a hold, they had a hold, we got a grip back. I’m pleased, momentum goes on. It was a great performance.”

Line-ups:

Newcastle (4-4-2): Krul; Debuchy, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon; Sissoko, Anita, Tioté, Gouffran (Ben Arfa, 73); Ameobi (Cisse, 61), Rémy.

Southampton (4-4-2): Gazzaniga; Chambers, Lovren, Hooiveld, Shaw; Davies, Cork, Ward-Prowse (Schneiderlin, h-t), Rodriguez; Osvaldo (Lallana, h-t), Lambert.

Referee: Mike Jones

Man of the match: Rodriguez (Southampton)

Match rating: 7/10