Newcastle lodge appeal over Fabricio Coloccini red card against Sunderland

26 October 2015 11:31

Newcastle have appealed against Fabricio Coloccini's red card in Sunday's derby defeat at Sunderland.

The Magpies captain was dismissed just before half-time after fouling Steven Fletcher, an incident which led to Adam Johnson opening the scoring from the penalty spot in a 3-0 win for the Wearsiders.

Newcastle confirmed they had lodged an appeal with the Football Association on Monday morning.

A statement from the Magpies read: "Newcastle United have lodged an appeal with the Football Association for the wrongful dismissal of Fabricio Coloccini during Sunday's Tyne-Wear derby match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

"Coloccini was given a straight red card by referee Robert Madley in first half injury time following an incident involving Steven Fletcher, which resulted in the awarding of a penalty kick.

"The appeal will be heard by a Regulatory Commission tomorrow afternoon and the club will be notified of the result shortly afterwards.

"Should the dismissal stand, United's captain will miss Saturday's Barclays Premier League fixture with Stoke City at St James' Park."

Coloccini leaned heavily on Fletcher as the Sunderland striker sought to get on the end of a Jermain Defoe through-ball just before half-time.

Steve McClaren criticised Madley after the incident, which did his team few favours in their unsuccessful attempt to avoid a sixth successive derby defeat to their fierce rivals.

The Newcastle boss said: ''It's simple: he is wrong in my opinion.

"Referees are part and parcel of the game and you control your performance - you can't control the opponent or the referee and they can affect the result. And they have done today - not so much the opponent, but definitely the referee.

"I have seen lots of challenges like that in the game, in every game and, outside the box, they are never given. It's a double whammy - a penalty and 10 men. It made it very difficult.

''We need an experienced referee for this and I think he was a little too quick to make a decision.''

Second half goals from Billy Jones and Fletcher sealed a victory for Sunderland which saw them move above their rivals, although both teams occupy positions in the bottom three above Aston Villa.

Source: PA