Andoni Iraola insists Newcastle United took advantage of loophole after crunch decision

The Magpies earned a point at Bournemouth with Malick Thiaw narrowly escaping a red card

Newcastle United should have been down to 10 men during the 0-0 draw at Bournemouth - or so fumed Andoni Iraola.

The Spaniard, who masterminded a 4-1 win at St James' Park earlier this year, was left frustrated as Newcastle held out for a point at the Vitality Stadium.

But he believes that Malick Thiaw, still finding his feet in English football, got away with just a ticking off after pulling down Ryan Christie.

Thiaw was on a caution after a handball but got lucky as referee Rob Jones almost took pity on him and Newcastle did not waste the chance to get him off when he was skating on thin ice.

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Aftewards, Iraola said: “The Newcastle bench decided to take him out, it’s a clear second yellow.

"I don’t know if it would make a difference because there wasn’t much remaining."

But Eddie Howe insisted the reason for his withdrawal was due to tiredness, he said: "I withdrew him because he was getting fatigued at the end."

The other big talking point was the Nick Woltemade penalty incident with the German tugged in the box but VAR turning their nose up at the prospect of a spot-kick. Iraola, however, unsurprisingly claimed it wasn't a foul, saying: "It was nothing."

Newcastle were the happier of the two teams with a point, but the Bournemouth boss, who could have taken his team to second spot in the Premier League, said: "We didn't have the brilliance to make the difference"

The former Rayo Vallecano manager pointed to the lack of Newcastle's attacking impetus and said: "That was a very different Newcastle, compared to what we have seen last season. They didn't have a lot of chances."

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