Alan Shearer believes Andy Carroll was knocked out in the middle of the second half of the Newcastle United FA Cup quarter-final loss to Man City because Steve Bruce feared he might be knocked out if he didn’t replace him.
Carroll made his first start since December in Newcastle’s 0-2 defeat at St. James ‘Park, registering the Magpies’ only shot on goal, a long shot that city keeper Claudio Bravo handled easily.
Pep Guardiola instructed his two central defenders Nicolas Otamendi and Aymeric Laporte to keep Carroll far from the penalty area, as the 31-year-old is “incredibly strong with the long balls and headballs”.
Given that Newcastle often went long after Carroll, especially after a shot on goal, Laporte had to try to compete with the towering striker in the air and was knocked down several times.
Carroll was eventually booked for a late duel against Laporte in the second half and replaced by Dwight Gayle just three minutes later.
Shearer, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards discussed the duels in Newcastle No. 7 with Laporte in an amusing analysis after the game on BBC One.
GL: “Now talk about the middle halves here. You have a nice, quiet day, you stroll around in the back, your team crosses, you play against Andy Carroll, but you still have an unpleasant three wallops in the afternoon. Poor old Laporte! “
MR: “This is exactly what the middle halves are supposed to do. It came and came again and again! I told you that it was a handful. He did this to me every day [England] 21 training. “
AS: “Let the middle half know he’s in a game. I think that’s what they say.”
MR: “It came and came and came.”
AS: “I think that took him off too, because about 10 minutes later Steve thought if I didn’t pick him up he could be sent off.”
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