Newcastle vs Sunderland ref watch: Three Anthony Taylor errors, including Trai Hume incident
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Credit: Imago Sun 22 March 2026 14:03, UK Newcastle United were defeated 2-1 by Sunderland on Sunday at St James’ Park in a lively Tyne-Wear derby.Anthony Gordon opened the scoring early on as he capitalised on a mistake from the Black Cats’ backline.However, Chemsdine Talbi would net the equaliser in the second half before Brian Brobbey netted a late winner.Throughout, the match was full of contentious decisions by the officials, with Anthony Taylor getting plenty wrong.Below, Football Insider has examined what the referees get wrong in an intense Newcastle-Sunderland showdown. ⚽ Newcastle Matchday ⚽ Team news, line-ups, expert previews and tactical analysis for every Newcastle United fixture. VISIT THE NEWCASTLE MATCH HUB MORE FOOTBALL INSIDER STORIES Brian Brobbey unlucky to give away early foul in Newcastle vs Sunderland Early on, Sunderland will have felt aggrieved to concede an early free-kick.Within the opening exchanges, the referee awarded Newcastle United a free-kick due to Brobbey having hold of Sven Botman’s shirt as they battled for the ball.Brian Brobbey’s stats vs Newcaslte Minutes90Goals 1xG1.06Pasing accuracy 76%Shots on target 2Chances created 2Brobbey had a great game against Sunderland.
Credit: FotmobHowever, the Magpies’ star also had hold of Brobbey’s shirt, making the decision to award a free-kick an odd one.Surely, if both players are committing a foul on each other, the referee does not favour one side with a free-kick.Sometimes common sense has to be used, and once again the referee failed to apply it. Missed Brobbey shirt grab almost leads to Sunderland goalUp the other end, Brobbey was perhaps lucky not to concede a foul.With Sunderland pushing for a winner, the striker found himself in an excellent position in the Newcastle box.Holding off Malick Thiaw, the Black Cats star managed to get a shot away before it was blocked.Full-time. pic.twitter.com/oafkJyGH9A— Newcastle United (@NUFC) March 22, 2026 However, this should never have happened, with Brobbey holding of Thiaw’s shirt throughout.Instead, a free-kick should have been awarded against Sunderland.Thankfully, nothing came of the incident, or VAR may have had to get involved.Trai Hume somehow not awarded a free-kick late onKeith Hackett has previously exclusively told Football Insider that Trai Hume has been at the centre of controversy this season, and this continued on Sunday.Late in the game, Sunderland were pushing for a famous win at St James’ Park.Hume was one of the players leading the charge and found himself in a great position in the dying minutes.Fighting for the ball alongside Jacob Murphy, the Sunderland star went to ground with the ball trickling out of play for the goal-kick.Yet, despite a foul clearly being committed on Hume, Taylor did not award Sunderland a free-kick in what would have been an excellent position late on.
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