Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko stood on Kenedy’s leg during the 2-1 win over his former club on Saturday. There was no retrospective action by the FA.
One fan on Twitter feels there was a double standard with Jonjo Shelvey having been punished for a fairly similar incident involving Dele Alli in the same fixture last season:
Can the fa please explain the difference between these 2 incidents??#nufc pic.twitter.com/kjzWb3bWTZ
— Stephen porter #NUFC (@nufcporter) August 13, 2018
Most Newcastle fans are frustrated by the lack of a punishment for Sissoko:
Simple 1 player has shelvey on the back of his shirt, the supposed bad boy of football!
— eddy walker (@walker_eddy) 13 August 2018
Easy one was a NUFC player and one was a media darlings player
— Jamie Fender (@Jamie_NUFC) 13 August 2018
Unfortunately for NUFC refs are petrified of upsetting the top 6 clubs!! Again unfortunately for NUFC we used to be one ☝️ before the Ashley era
— Kev Cairns (@kevcairns) 14 August 2018
Yes.
One was done (a) on a Toon player and one was (b) done by a Toon player.
So not guilty (a)
Guilty (b)— William (@billyredhead1) 13 August 2018
Spurs are the media and premier league darlings, not a chance this would be brought up
— Donal Rodgers (@donalrodgers) 14 August 2018
Simple one has the Newcastle badge and the other the Tottenham we all know we are not treated equally
— SimpleMan (@TheArrogantPrik) 14 August 2018
The picture tells 2 stories, 1 player screaming like a big girls blouse the other saying nowt . Both exactly the same , FA need to hang their heads in shame !!!!
— NEIL TWIZELL (@NEILTW) 14 August 2018
A few thought fans should just forget about it:
get over it….we were given a footballing lesson
— Michael Martin 1992 (@Michael61659978) 14 August 2018
Jonjo did admit to a “moment of madness” after the game last year and apologised for his actions, but the midfielder’s reputation does precede him, while in the Frenchman’s case, he has not been such a serial offender in the past.
Still, referees should be looking at each incident on its own merits, as well as the FA. It’s difficult to determine the intent of the player but it’s clear that the midfielder wasn’t being particularly careful about where he was standing, and his ‘stamp’ could easily have been avoided.