Martin Keown told BBC’s Final Score that Jacob Murphy’s dive during Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa made him ‘really angry’.
The former centre-back claimed that Murphy was trying to ‘cheat’ the referee after he went over a challenge from Aston Villa’s Ashley Young.
As Murphy was going to burst into the penalty area in the first half, he anticipated a challenge from Young and proceeded to dive over him without any contact.
That angered the Villa fullback who gave him a mouthful before he was picked up from the floor by Tyrone Mings.
But Keown questioned why there was no card handed out to the Newcastle wing-back given his actions.
“Shouldn’t he be booked for that?” questioned Keown. “It’s simulation. This is the thing about it.
“It makes you really angry as a defender when a defender does that. It’s making me angry watching it.
“It’s so wrong. The referee needs to punish that. It’s simulation. It’s annoying. He is trying to gain an advantage. He is trying to cheat the referee.
“I don’t like to use the word cheating. But what else is he trying to do? And he gets away with it. He should be punished.”
Steve Bruce was unhappy at a number of decisions after the game, but one thing he failed to mention was Murphy still being on the pitch.
Given that Murphy was given a yellow card in the second half, he should have been given his marching orders at that time had the referee punished him for his earlier dive.
But in the end, Newcastle’s performance couldn’t paper over the cracks that are once again showing because this has been another worrying start for Bruce.
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