Iconic Newcastle United duo spotted on rare outing, Kieran Trippier’s ‘time wasting’ gesture – Crystal Palace moments missed

Alexander Isak tries to excite the crowd at St James’s Park

It was an eventful home debut for the striker, who will feel he should have given Newcastle the lead early on after intercepting a loose ball and breaking through on goal.

The 22-year-old opted to chip the ball over Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita but his tame effort was comfortably claimed. Throughout the afternoon, Isak had a few half chances that unfortunately went begging but he did come close to brilliantly setting up Joe Willock in the second half only for the midfielder to be denied by Guaita.

To mark the Swede’s home debut, Wor Flags included a flag paying tribute to the club record £60million signing as part of their pre-match display.

And as Newcastle pushed for a winner on a frustrating afternoon at St James’s Park, Isak gestured towards the crowd to keep the atmosphere going and momentum behind the home side.

It’s clear he has quickly taken to his new surroundings and his first impressions of St James’s Park will certainly be positive, despite missing a few big chances on the day.

Lesser-spotted duo return to St James’s Park

Newcastle United mascots Monty and Maggie were given a rare matchday outing on Saturday afternoon as they were spotted next to the dugout ahead of the match.

Last season, Maggie was in attendance as Newcastle United Women made history by playing at St James’s Park for the first time in front of an impressive crowd of 22,134.

But as far as Newcastle United Premier League matchday’s were concerned, there were even rumours that the magpie mascot costumes had been ditched entirely after a lengthy spell without an appearance. But on Saturday afternoon, the new Monty and Maggie costumes were seen sporting 2022-23 season black and white shirts as they entertained young fans by the pitchside.

Hopefully it’s not the last we’ve seen of the iconic pair.

Kieran Trippier’s gesture to the fourth official

In the first half, as Crystal Palace took their time to take a defensive throw-in during a period of pressure for Newcastle, captain for the afternoon Kieran Trippier gestured towards the fourth official to keep track of the time in which the ball was not in play.

The 31-year-old got the attention of fourth official Paul Tierney and pointed to his wrist in order to ensure the appropriate amount of time was added at the end of the first half.

As it happened, Tierney held up his board showing two minutes of added time at the end of the first half and five at the end of the match – with no drama taking place on this occasion.

Newcastle were accused of time wasting against Liverpool on Wednesday night and were punished when an extra three minutes was added to the five minutes of added time held up at Anfield.

And in the 98th minute, Liverpool popped up with a last-gasp winner.

Trippier told The Gazette following the match: “[Time wasting] is something the referee needs to get control of. We're coming away to Anfield, we set out a game plan so if [Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool manager] wants to complain about time wasting, the referee and the officials have to take control.”

And that’s exactly what Trippier was encouraging the officials to do at St James’s Park on Saturday.

Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall approach officials following disallowed goal

Newcastle had been pushing to break the deadlock after having a Sven Botman header cleared off the line and Miguel Almiron strike deflect onto the post.

And early into the second half, the players and 51,000 fans in St James’s Park thought the hosts had opened the scoring as Tyrick Mitchell turned the ball into his own net.

The Newcastle players and fans celebrated the goal before collective groans were let out at the sign of a VAR check for a foul.

Referee Michael Salisbury went over to the monitor to look at a replay of the goal before awarding a free-kick to Palace instead.

The away side's goalkeeper was deemed to have been fouled by Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock. Though full replays showed that the Newcastle midfielder was nudged before coming into contact with the Spaniard.

The home crowd were confused, the players furious, with Joelinton having to be kept away from the referee by Trippier. On the touchline, head coach Eddie Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall were both quickly in the ears of the match officials.

Howe appeared to be questioning the decision to the referee’s assistant whilst Tindall did the same with the fourth official – with the feeling that they had a legitimate goal chalked off.

Conversations continued as Howe and Tindall spoke to the officials as they left the pitch.

"For me, it’s not a foul. If anything, it’s a penalty if it’s not a goal," Howe said afterwards.

Dressing room reaction

The draw means it’s just one last minute defeat and three clean sheets in six matches for Newcastle in the Premier League this season. But at the same time, the side are now five games without a win.

After the match, Fabian Schar admitted the result ‘felt like a defeat’ in the dressing room with Newcastle’s players feeling as though they should have won the match given their chances and controversially disallowed goal.

The mood was sombre with Newcastle’s players now given a few days to rest and recharge after a hectic recent schedule involving three away matches in seven days heading into Saturday’s match.

The Magpies will be looking to end what is their joint longest winless run in the Premier League under Howe away to West Ham United next Sunday (2pm kick-off).