Speaking on Match of the Day over the weekend, Phil Neville and Jermaine Jenas have both condemned Yohan Cabaye’s ‘dangerous’ challenge on DeAndre Yedlin during Saturday’s game, claiming it could have very easily broken the NUFC full-back’s leg and should have seen him sent off.
Quite a turn of events as far as Cabaye is concerned. The Frenchman was once a fan favourite on Tyneside, and rightly at one stage, being a midfield maestro who always got stuck in – however that quickly changed after he essentially went on strike to force a dream move to PSG.
To say his popularity went down another notch over the weekend is an understatement, with his horror tackle on DeAndre Yedlin during the first half on Saturday infuriating the home crowd.
I and whole of St James’ immediately sprung to their feet as it happened, rightfully demanding a red card to be shown.
Only a yellow was given, but Match of the Day pundits Phil Neville and Jermaine Jenas both believe the referee got it wrong, with the former claiming it was a ‘leg breaker’:
Some bold words on @BBCMOTD on Cabaye's challenge on Yedlin here ??⚫️⚪️⚫️
Spot on! #NUFC pic.twitter.com/NKLy4cuWzG
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) October 22, 2017
Phil Neville on Match of the Day on Saturday night:
“I think he’s a lucky, lucky boy to stay on the field.
I thought it was a leg breaker – he comes in from the side, his feet are off the ground, he comes in with a scissor motion and I think he’s so lucky to stay on the field.
“That was a dangerous, dangerous tackle.”
Neville’s thoughts on the challenge were then supported by ex-Mag Jermaine Jenas, who was mystified as to why Cabaye came in to the challenge so high:
“It’s a straight red card, I don’t know why he’s gone so high, that’s a red card,”
Here’s the tackle. It really was a shocker and deserved a red. A dangerous scissor motion, high, out of control and lucky not to have done real damage to Yedlin’s standing left leg:
Red card all day long! ?
Scissor motion, high, out of control & very dangerous. Could've broken @yedlinny's standing leg! #NUFC #CPFC??⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/4WaYYy97Fw
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) October 22, 2017
As ever, let us know your thoughts on the incident. Do you agree with their assessment?
