Newcastle United were the victims of the “absolutely shocking” offside rule against Aston Villa on Saturday, according to Dion Dublin.
The Magpies were beaten 2-0 by Villa in the Premier League, with the defeat extending their winless run to 10 games in all competitions.
First half goals from Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore were enough for the hosts to record a comfortable victory over Steve Bruce’s side.
The result increased the pressure on Bruce, whose team are now 16th in the top-flight and are without victory in any competition since 12 December, when they beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at St James’ Park.
Although it was another poor performance from Newcastle, who managed just one shot on target at Villa Park, they were unfortunate to go behind to Watkins’ 13th-minute header, according to former Premier League striker Dublin.
Watkins appeared to be just ahead of the ball when Matt Targett put in his cross, but Fabian Schar’s attempt to cut out the pass popped the ball up for Watkins to head in past Karl Darlow.
The Newcastle defender’s intervention proved costly and Dublin was hugely critical of the offside law on Match of the Day.
“That law is rubbish, it’s absolutely shocking,” Dublin said.
“Okay, so the ball gets kicked and he’s offside, correct, the only way Newcastle will get that offside is if the defender leaves the ball.
“So, Schar says, ‘right, I’ve sussed it, Watkins is offside on my blind side, I’m gonna leave this and let him score’.”
Fellow BBC pundit Alex Scott agreed, adding: “Every defender there will do the same thing. You’re not going to let it go for the chance of it being offside, no way, it’s absolutely rubbish.”
Bruce was once again bullish in his post-match interviews, claiming he knows his players have what it takes to turn things around, but the pressure is undoubtedly mounting on the Magpies manager.
Former Arsenal defender Scott questioned Bruce’s tactics, which saw Newcastle line up in a 5-3-2 formation with Andy Carroll and Callum Wilson up front.
“I’m usually not this harsh, but in the first-half, Newcastle were woeful today,” Scott said.
“I felt sorry for their fans. The second-half, you could see there was a slight improvement - only slight.
“The fact that you’re trying to win a game, but they had one shot on target all game. At times, I was confused, I didn’t even know - they were playing a low block and weren’t pressing at times.
“It was all too easy for Aston Villa.”
