The headlines surrounding Celtic’s battering of Newcastle United has been superb.
From the Toon Army fan media calling out the travelling Newcastle supports racist chanting to Magpies boss Eddie Howe’s strop in the Celtic Park car park, the last 48 hours have been tremendous.
The praise Celtic have been getting has been excellent, and rightly so.
However, for the Premier League club, in the eyes of the media there always has to be a villain when it comes to losing to a Scottish club.
And the English media have just pointed the finger squarely at one Newcastle man who had a ‘nightmare’ at Celtic Park.
Newcastle’s Nick Pope blasted by England’s media for Celtic Park ‘howler’
Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope was made to look a bit daft after Kasper Schmeichel’s long ball caught him out and set up Johnny Kenny’s goal.
And the high-profile error was not kissed by the English media.
The Northern Echo: “The Newcastle goalkeeper left his area to try to head away a long ball over the top from Schmeichel, but failed to make any contact at all with the ball. Kenny strolled in behind him, and was left with the easy task of rolling into an empty net. It was hardly the confidence booster that Pope would have wanted as Newcastle ponder what to do about their goalkeeping situation, with talks over Burnley’s James Trafford continuing to stall.”
Sky Sports said: “He came rushing out of his area to meet a long punt up the field from Kasper Schmeichel. The Newcastle keeper misjudged the flight, couldn’t reach the bouncing ball with his attempted header and Johnny Kenny gladly ran past to tap the ball into an empty net.”
The Shields Gazette: “Reacted well to parry Schar’s own-goal-bound volley out for a corner. Sent the wrong way for Celtic’s penalty. Did enough to stop Celtic making it 2-0 shortly before half time by closing down Engles, who was unmarked in the box. But was then badly at fault for misjudging a bouncing ball badly to allow Johnny Kenny to stroke the ball into an empty net. A nightmare moment for the Newcastle No. 1.”
Newcastle World: “Misjudged a long pass, allowing Johnny Kenny to make it 2-0. Howler.. nightmare… however you want to call it. Had earlier pulled off a brilliant save to stop Fabian Schar from scoring an own goal.”
Even football ratings site Fotmob got in on the action and said: “Celtic ran riot against Newcastle United as they claimed a 4-0 victory in Saturday’s pre-season friendly.
“Eddie Howe’s team were convincingly beaten by the Scottish champions, who benefited from a huge error from Nick Pope.
“Arne Engels opened the scoring with a 28th-minute penalty before Johnny Kenny doubled Celtic’s lead, latching onto a long ball that was misjudged by Pope, presenting a clear path through to an open goal.”
Newcastle boss Wddie Howe slammed for ‘ridiculous’ Celtic Park comments
Newcastle faced Celtic without star man Alexander Idah.
And when former Celtic man Craig Burley hear Howe say I he didn’t want Isak in the Celtic Park stands as speculation over his Newcastle future raged, Burley wasn’t having any of it.
Burley told ESPN, “Ridiculous statement, isn’t it? ‘I sent him home because it wasn’t fair to him to sit in the stands.
“What kind of nonsense is that? What’s wrong with sitting in the stands at Celtic Park watching your team getting gubbed?
“What’s the problem? It’s just cloak and dagger stuff. He could have played him, and he decided not to play him. Sends him home, and makes it even more of a grey area.”
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