Newcastle held 2-2 by Leeds in EPL thriller as manager Howe accosted by fan
LEEDS, England (AP) — Newcastle dropped more points in its push for Champions League qualification by drawing 2-2 at Leeds, which remained in the Premier League relegation zone Saturday after a thrilling game that ended with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe being accosted by a fan.
Howe wasn’t hurt in the incident and said he “was struggling to make sense” of a chaotic match that saw Leeds have a penalty saved, concede two more converted by Callum Wilson and have Junior Firpo sent off in stoppage time.
Rasmus Kristensen’s deflected shot in the 79th minute ultimately earned Leeds a point but the team now managed by Sam Alladryce will come away from the match with big regrets because of errors by Patrick Bamford and Firpo.
Leeds was leading 1-0 through Luke Ayling’s seventh-minute goal when Bamford was given a chance to double the advantage from the penalty spot after Firpo was tripped by Joelinton.
Bamford saw his penalty saved by goalkeeper Nick Pope and, three minutes later, Newcastle striker Wilson converted a spot kick at the other end after Alexander Isak was bundled over by Max Wober.
Firpo then had a moment of madness when he raised his hand following a cross into the area, with the ball brushing his fingertips to give away a penalty.
Wilson converted that one, too, right down the middle in the 69th only for Kristensen to equalize.
Firpo was sent off for a second yellow card in the first minute of stoppage time, during which there was an alarming incident that saw a spectator walk up to Howe in the technical area and barge him in the chest before being escorted away by security.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether it was a Leeds or Newcastle fan.
Leeds is one point from safety with two games left, at West Ham and at home against Tottenham.
“A point today is massive for us, especially with how we did it,” Ayling said. “We had a chance to go 2-0 up and then that happened. In weeks before we’d probably lose that four or 5-1.”
Newcastle stayed third but failed to rebound from a 2-0 home loss to Arsenal last weekend and is now four points clear of fifth-place Liverpool.
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