Eddie Howe was left raging after hearing that Liverpool boss Arne Slot held a private meeting with referee Andy Madley at half-time.
The Reds were 1-0 down at the break at St James’ Park and had three players in the book after Alexis Mac Allister, Jarell Quansah and Ryan Gravenberch all picked up yellow cards. World Cup winner Mac Allister was already walking on a suspension tightrope ahead of the midweek clash and will now miss Saturday’s derby derby away to Everton.
The Premier League leaders managed to find their shooting boots in the second-half, eventually storming into a 3-2 lead, before Fabian Schar snatched a dramatic 90th minute equaliser after a blunder from Caoimhin Kelleher. But Howe was unhappy after learning from Amazon Prime Video presenter Dan Walker in a post-match interview that Slot had visited Madley’s room at the break.
While Howe sidestepped the question, a picture could paint a thousand words as the clearly irritated Newcastle boss responded: “I don’t think I’ll go there. I think that’s a can of worms. I tend to focus on my team.” The Daily Mirror reports that Howe was indeed angered by Slot’s antics, and his nose was also put out of joint by Madley’s decision to blow the full-time whistle as the Magpies prepared to mount one last attack, with the five minutes of stoppage time already up.
After getting his breath back from the six-goal classic, Slot confessed a 3-3 draw was probably a fair outcome in the end as Chelsea cut Liverpool’s lead at the top to seven points. He said: “I have mixed feelings, we were outstanding in the second half but we were not good enough in the first half. Maybe 3-3 is what the game deserved.
“They were really aggressive and forced us into mistakes but we were so much better in the second half. I knew the game could be changed around, we were much better with the ball. After the week we had we could change the game which is a very positive thing to take. Every time we need Mo Salah he scores a goal. We are hoping and expecting he can continue this for a long time. He was outstanding in the second half, he did many special things for us.”