'It was' - Eddie Howe on controversial Alexander Isak incident v Liverpool as Premier League fail to respond

A back-and-forth game saw Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon twice put Newcastle in front before Liverpool turned things around with a Mohamed Salah brace after Curtis Jones initially equalised. Fabian Schar then drew Newcastle level in the final minute of normal time from a Bruno Guimaraes free-kick.

But at 2-2, Newcastle had a big penalty shout turned down as Alexander Isak went down under Jarell Quansah’s challenge.

“I thought it was a penalty on Alex,” Howe said. “I haven’t seen the replay that was just my initial thought.”

There was no explanation provided by the Premier League’s Match Centre as to why a penalty wasn’t given as Andy Madley’s on-field decision stood. The referee then prompted boos at the full-time whistle by blowing just as Newcastle looked like breaking away through Isak.

“I was surprised by the final whistle because we spent around two minutes on a free-kick in extra time so I was expecting seven minutes to be played but it’s 5:15 [into stoppage time] when he’s blown [for full-time],” Howe added. “So that was a blow because we looked like we were in a good position.”

On the match itself, Howe stated: “Mixed emotions, part of me feels we should have won it - a big part of me but part of me is pleased we didn’t lose either because it’s such a late goal for us.

“Generally just really pleased with the performance, much more attacking output and a much better feel about the team. A quality performance against the best team we’ve played so far in the Premier League so a big jump forward for us.”