OPINION
There would have been very few Newcastle United fans who would have thought that star winger Kenedy would have escaped a ban for kicking out during his shocking performance against Cardiff over the weekend.
A dire first half saw the Brazilian appear to lash out at Victor Camarasa, and quite honestly a suspension for violent conduct would not have seemed harsh in any way, shape or form.
The Chelsea loanee failed to make up for his performance in the second half and missed the chance to seal all three points for Rafa Benitez and his men after seeing a penalty saved in the dying seconds of the clash.
While Kenedy is not able to feature next weekend, with a clash against his parent club on Sunday, the Toon Army would have been expecting not to see the 22-year-old for quite some time, but as revealed by the BBC, he has been handed a surprise reprieve as a result of the incident having been dealt with by referee Craig Pawson – and it gives Kenedy the perfect chance to recover from his shocker.
He has to get his head down and spend two weeks really making sure that the display against Cardiff was a one off, because he deserved to be axed after his woeful performance in Wales.
With an enforced change on the cards, Benitez has the chance to give someone else the opportunity and Kenedy the chance to focus on making sure he is 100 per cent ready for either the League Cup clash against Nottingham Forest or the trip to Manchester City – games they will need the Brazilian at his very best for.