Jonjo Shelvey has confessed that his red card in Newcastle United’s opening game of the season against Tottenham cost his side.
The 25-year-old central midfielder recklessly stood on Dele Alli in the 48th minute of the game, when the score was 0-0, and received a red card for his actions.
Spurs went on to win the match 2-0 against a 10-man Magpies side, with Alli and Ben Davies scoring in the second half to ensure that the Magpies got no points from their opening game.
Shelvey referred to the incident in an interview with Sky Sports, after he was asked how he would rate his season so far.
“It’s been up and down personally,” admitted Shelvey.
“The first game was a write-off, like when you smash your car up.
“I still don’t know why I did it to this day, we were in control of the game and I lost us that game.
“And I have never come out and said sorry publicly because I have said sorry to the people that need to be said sorry to.
“It’s just in the past and I am trying to kick on from here.”
The 25-year-old has made 20 appearances in the league this season to help his side sit two points clear of the relegation zone.
Shelvey went on to receive another red card in the Premier League against Everton, but added that he had learnt from his mistakes and realised he wasn’t a “little kid anymore” so had to improve.
OPINION
It’s nice that Shelvey has finally admitted his mistake in the opening game of the season, though it’s quite worrying that he still unsure what made him decide to stand on Alli. While getting sent off in any game sees a player let their team down, it was worrying that Shelvey received his marching orders in the first league game of the season. The midfielder’s red card meant that he missed the Magpies’ next two league games through suspension and would have had Rafa Benitez fuming. The Magpies manager no doubt had all these plans and ideas from pre-season that included Shelvey, that Benitez had to tear up for the first few games of the season.