'That's football' - Southampton star makes claim that will annoy Newcastle United supporters

Southampton striker Ben Brereton-Diaz has claimed he is unfazed by criticism over the role he played in the controversial red card shown to Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar on the opening day of the Premier League season.

The Chile international made his debut for the Saints as they marked their return to the top flight with a visit to Tyneside - but incurred the wrath of the St James Park faithful and a number of pundits by appearing to the most of minimal contact in a coming together with Schar on the half-hour mark. The game was goalless when the Magpies centre-back reacted to a push from Brereton-Diaz by pushing his head towards the former Blackburn Rovers forward, who went to ground and held his face.

Referee Craig Pawson showed a red card to Schar and VAR upheld the decision, leaving Eddie Howe’s side won to ten men for over an hour. Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Magpies still went on to claim all three points thanks to a Joelinton goal - but the remainder of Brereton-Diaz’s game was dominated by a vociferous reaction from United supporters.

That spilled over into post-match reaction as several pundit hit out at the Saints forward. Magpies legend Alan Shearer described Brereton-Diaz’s actions as ‘embarrassing’ and former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Tim Sherwood called the striker ‘embarrassing’. But Brereton-Diaz was unmoved by the criticism over his part in the incident and insisted he has fully moved on from the incident.

He told The Daily Mail: “For me it was adrenaline. In the game I felt contact and went down and that’s just how it is. If it’s not a red card, the VAR has got to come in and say it’s not a red card but for me I felt contact and that’s it. That’s football. I’m not really on Twitter or much like that but that comes with football. That’s part and parcel of it. People have got opinions. The only opinions I have to care about are what the team and the manager think.

“I’ve watched it back a couple of times. It’s a tough one, isn’t it? In this day and age it’s hard to really say is it a red card or is it not. But it’s not my decision. I’ve felt contact, gone down and the ref and the VAR have got to sort it out. They thought it was a red card so it’s a red card. I’m just trying to play football. At the end of the day, I’m all good. It’s two weeks on, it is what it is.”

Schar will complete his three-match ban when Newcastle host Tottenham Hotspur at St James Park on Sunday afternoon and will be back in contention when the Magpies return to action after the international break with a visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers.