‘My intentions were pure’ – Anthony Gordon speaks out after reckless red card against Liverpool | OneFootball

Anthony Gordon has spoken out after his red card in Liverpool’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Newcastle on Monday night.

The Reds were leading 1-0 when, just before half-time, the Magpies forward raked his studs down the back of Virgil van Dijk’s calf, leaving visible marks on the Dutch defender.

On-field referee Simon Hooper initially brandished a yellow card before being summoned to the VAR monitor to review the incident and duly upgrading it to a red, leaving Eddie Howe’s side a player short for the remainder of the match.

Gordon apologises for red card v Liverpool

Gordon has since apologised over the reckless challenge on the Liverpool captain and insisted that he would never maliciously go out to hurt a fellow professional on the pitch.

As per The Independent, the Newcastle forward said: “I want to sincerely apologise to my teammates and the fans. My intentions were pure. I was just trying to create energy in the game and I mistimed the tackle.

“I also want to apologise to Virgil. I would never intend to tackle somebody like this on purpose. We spoke after and he knows that.”

(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Gordon must learn from latest moment of indiscipline

That was Gordon’s third red card in 18 months, having also walked against West Ham in March 2024 and Brighton in the FA Cup last season. The latter was for a stupid act of petulance, and this latest dismissal will raise further questions over his on-field indiscipline.

It was a tempestuous contest throughout at St James’ Park, and the 24-year-old isn’t the first player to get caught up in the heat of the moment by making a rash challenge, but his tackle on Van Dijk was not nice and could’ve caused serious injury to the Liverpool captain.

Thankfully our number 4 shook off the incident and delivered a powerful performance for the Reds – in contrast to his off-colour defensive partner Ibrahima Konate – although his indignation at the initial contact was justified.

At least Gordon has held his hands up and apologised over the red card, but he’ll now miss Newcastle’s next three matches at a time when they’re already short on attacking options, hence their rigid ‘not-for-sale’ stance on Alexander Isak despite the striker’s clear wishes to leave the club.

For his own sake, we hope that the England international learns to exercise greater self-control on the pitch and refrains from repeating the kind of dangerous challenge which saw him banised to the dressing room just before half-time last night.