Saturday 3 December 2016 21:23, UK
Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez vented his anger at Henri Lansbury as the Nottingham Forest captain played a key role in getting two of his players sent off in a 2-1 defeat at the City Ground on Friday night.
Jonjo Shelvey was dismissed for kicking Lansbury in the 33rd minute, then Paul Dummett suffered the same fate after appearing to bundle him over in the box just before half-time as Forest came from behind to win, despite missing both penalties following the red cards.
Newcastle had taken the lead through Matt Ritchie in-between the two dismissals, but Nicklas Bendtner, having missed the first spot-kick while Lansbury missed the second himself, levelled for Forest after the break before Jamaal Lascelles put through his own net late on.
"Everything was against us," Benitez told Sky Sports. "You could see in the game we have a lot of things we can complain about. But I was really surprised with Lansbury. The way he was acting, twice with the penalties and also with Jonjo Shelvey, but maybe he's proud of himself.
"If the referee cannot see that Lansbury was kicking Jonjo before, I will not defend Jonjo as he made a mistake, but [Lansbury] was kicking him before from behind. Sometimes the FA take action also on the players that are over-reacting, so [maybe that will happen here].
"[With Dummett's sending off] it was very clear the No 10 (Lansbury) was waiting for him. So maybe again the FA can analyse this and see the behaviour of the No 10."
Newcastle's third defeat in a row, with their EFL Cup quarter-final exit on penalties against Hull in midweek being sandwiched by two league losses, leaves Benitez's side in danger of losing top spot to Brighton on Saturday.
Despite the disappointing result, though, the Newcastle boss was proud of the way his team reacted to such a difficult situation at the City Ground.
"[The plan was] to try to control the game as we did for awhile then try to score if we could. But with nine players it's not easy, especially when all the decisions have gone against you," he said.
"I think the team reacted against adversity, like we have to do, play football and try to score goals. But it was a difficult day and sometimes the referees have to have more experience."
