FOOTBALL fans were left frustrated after a flock of seagulls repeatedly flew in front of the camera during Tottenham’s post-season friendly against Newcastle.
The two sides travelled to Melbourne, Australia on Sunday following the conclusion of the Premier League campaign.
They came face-to-face at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday morning for a rare post-season match broadcast on the websites of both clubs.
However, fans that had tuned in to watch the action were distracted by the amount of seagulls flying in front of the camera.
One person took to X to write: “Who ordered a plague of seagulls to Melbourne Cricket Ground?”
Another commented: “These seagulls are actually stressing me out.”
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While a third said: “These seagulls flying about in front of the camera are doing my nut in 🤣.”
James Maddison opened the scoring 32 minutes into the match before Alexander Isak equalised on the brink of half-time.
The 90 minutes ended with the score level at 1-1 but Newcastle won 5-4 on penalties.
Kieran Trippier handed England manager Gareth Southgate an injury scare after coming off in the 36th minute with a knock.
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He was then seen having ice applied to his ankle.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou recently admitted the prospect of a match in Australia just three days after the Premier League conclusion was “not ideal”.
He said: “Our situation is a bit different from Newcastle’s. They’ve had a European season, Champions League, it’s been a big season. We haven’t. It’s no secret part of this exposure but also revenue for us.
“I certainly wouldn’t have allowed it to happen if we were in Europe this year and had a bigger game schedule. I probably would have said no to it.
“And I don’t think the club would have expected us to go. If we’re in Europe next year, I don’t think you’ll be seeing this happen.
“I don’t think it’s ideal. But I think each situation is unique. For us, on the back of our season, to play one more game two days after the end of the season, there is substance to it for us.
“We had a discussion with the playing group really early on about it. They understood why we’re doing it and we all made a commitment to go and that’s going to happen.”
Newcastle icon Alan Shearer also branded it “madness”.
While England manager Southgate himself said there was nothing he could do about the game, even though it involved two of his players included in his 33-man provisional Euros list in Trippier and James Maddison. Injured Anthony Gordon was not involved.
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Both teams named strong starting XIs in front of 78,419 spectators on a night of pouring rain in Melbourne.
It ended Spurs’ season but Newcastle still have an A-league All Stars team still to play on Friday, with Trippier’s fitness a concern.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
