Robson fumes at Gravesen tackle

The Danish international appeared to catch Olivier Bernard with a high challenge on his knee and as the Frenchman lay strewn on the ground Everton won the decisive penalty which David Unsworth converted for the winner.

The decision infuriated Robson as Newcastle's title hopes suffered a major blow.

"I thought it was an outrageous tackle," fumed Robson. "It was almost a red card. He [Graveson] already had a yellow so he has to go off.

"The referee played on and he must must have known my player [Bernard] was injured. The game went on and on and then the penalty was awarded against us. It was a crucial decision - it cost us the match.

"Some days you get them, some days you don't. It's a bad decision - the ref won't sleep tonight.

"David Moyes apologised for his players not putting ball out. My players might not have done that either. The ref could have blown the whistle and stopped the play. It was entirely in the ref's hands. It's tough for refs, it's not easy. But we lost the match through it.

"I haven't spoken to the ref. There's not much to say. I'll lose my rag with him. He had a decent match. It's not easy the way the game is played.

"You can't get every one right. He was on the spot and I was surprised. The lost points would have been vital.

"We have dropped points but this is a big result for Everton. They were strong, combative. They played nice spells of football. It was hard fought from first to last.

"It should have gone our way but for a questionable decision."

Newcastle captain Alan Shearer was also incensed by Gravesen's tackle. 

"We were bitterly disappointed by the decision, or should I say lack of decision, leading up to the goal,"  said Shearer.

"How on earth that isn't a free kick I don't know.

"For me, it's a coward's tackle. Not only is he a foot away but he's two foot away. He's gone to hurt him and he's gone to hurt his knee. Poor challenge.

"He'd been booked already but for me it's a straight red card and how the referee hasn't seen that I don't know."

Moyes revealed he had tried to get his players to kick the ball out following Gravesen's controversial challenge to let Bernard receive treatment.

"The decision went our way," said Moyes. "We indicated to the players for the ball to be kicked out. In the noise you don't always hear what's going on, but we did shout to the players to put the ball out.

"You take everything you can get. You get some bad decisions, but maybe today we have got something back. This one went in our favour."

Moyes was also full of praise for hero of the week Wayne Rooney as he again grabbed the headlines with the opening goal after his impressive performance for England last week.

"He played very well today and we are delighted with him," added Moyes. "He picked up one or two knocks towards the end and we were a little bit worried about him."