Eddie Howe says it would have been 'very hard to swallow' had Cristiano Ronaldo's disallowed goal been allowed to stand in Manchester United's draw with Newcastle. United were held to a goalless stalemate at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon as they paid the price for poor finishing in front of goal.
Anthony Martial missed the match as he recovers from injury, meaning Erik ten Hag opted for Ronaldo in attack with Marcus Rashford used from the bench.
United's lack of firepower was evident with only two shots on target in the match, though they did have the ball in the back of the net when Ronaldo controversially passed the ball into an empty net.
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Newcastle looked to have taken a free-kick just outside their box when defender Fabian Schär touched the ball before leaving it for goalkeeper Nick Pope to take the set-piece. As the England goalkeeper stood over the ball, Ronaldo rushed in and raced past him before placing the ball into the unguarded net.
Ronaldo was booked for protesting that the goal should have stood, but referee Craig Pawson was quick to rule it out because the ball hadn't been in play.
Speaking after the match, Newcastle boss Howe was asked about the controversial moment and whether it should have been allowed to stand.
"I could see it at the time, and for me it was clear Fabi wasn’t taking the kick. He was allowing Nick to do it," he said at his post-match press conference.
"I don’t know if the ref had blown his whistle, but I don't think he had to restart play. For me, it was clear that Nick was waiting to actually deliver the free-kick and then, obviously, Ronaldo had taken the ball off him. It would have been a very, very difficult goal to swallow if it had stood. For me it was clear the ball it wasn’t in play."
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