Rafa Benitez has confirmed that the Magpies will be appealing Vurnon Anita’s red card shown in the 2-0 defeat to Wolves at St. James’ Park on Saturday.
Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has confirmed that the club will be appealing the straight red card shown to Vurnon Anita against Wolves at the weekend, as reported by the club’s official Twitter account.
The Dutchman was given his marching orders for a tackle on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ivan Cavaleiro late in the game and now faces a three match ban, although Benitez is confident that the decision will be overturned.
“It was not even a foul,” the Spaniard was quoted by the Shields Gazette. “I think everybody can see. The journalists who have watched it on the TV were surprised.”
Anita has featured at right-back for United so far this season and should his three match ban be upheld then he will miss Tuesday night’s EFL Cup tie against Wolves as well as key league matches against Aston Villa and Norwich City.
So with some tough games coming up it is clear that Benitez wants his squad at full strength following their most recent setback.
After winning five Championship matches in a row, the Magpies’ impressive run was brought to an abrupt halt and Wolves sealed a 2-0 win thanks to a Chancel Mbemba own goal and a second-half strike by Helder Costa.
Before that, United had not conceded a single goal in any of their previous five games in all competitions and Benitez is hoping his side respond quickly to the result by getting revenge on Walter Zenga’s men on Tuesday evening (7.45pm kick-off).
Will Anita’s red card be overturned?
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