Newcastle United star issues apology after Leeds United battering
Newcastle United’s 4-1 defeat at Leeds United was their first Premier League defeat of the campaign.
Newcastle United midfielder Sean Steur has issued an apology to supporters for his mistake in the 4-1 defeat at Leeds United on Monday night.
The 18-year-old Dutchman was named on the bench but was called into action just 19 minutes in after Nico Gonzalez was forced off with a head injury.
Gonzalez hit the deck early on after the ball struck him in the head. The Spaniard played on initially, but the Magpies’ medical team advised him to come off.
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Steur took his place in the midfield alongside Lewis Miley and both players were involved in Leeds’ opening goal, as Ao Tanaka’s shot deflected off Steur and Miley to take the ball away from goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek.
While Steur could count himself unfortunate on that occasion, the same could not be said moments later, as his underhit pass to Harvey Barnes led directly to Jayden Bogle doubling the Whites' advantage.
Leeds went on to add a third on the brink of half-time through Dominic Calvert-Lewin before Noah Okafor made it 4-0 on the hour-mark. The Magpies gradually improved from there on and grabbed a late consolation via substitute Bazoumana Toure.
Sean Steur apologises to Newcastle United fans after Leeds mistake
It was a night where “not only one thing went wrong,” according to United boss Matthias Jaissle, but teenage Steur showed his maturity by taking responsibility for his part in the defeat.
“Fans, apologies for the mistake,” Steur wrote on Instagram. “Thanks for the support and we will be back.”
Steur is expected to start against Hull City on Saturday, with Gonzalez likely to miss out due to concussion protocols, while Jacob Ramsey remained on the bench at Elland Road after feeling his thigh in the pre-match warm-up.
It is likely that Ramsey would have come on ahead of Steur had he been fit.
Asked about the decision to bring on Steur ahead of Ramsey, Jaissle said: “Pretty simply explained, he felt his thigh in the warm-up, so he was not able to play tonight. That was the next challenge.
“Tonight, a little bit of the story, I would say many things came together.”