MOUSSA DJENEPO was forced off with a suspected concussion after being flattened in a horror clash with Nick Pope.
The Southampton forward ran towards the Newcastle penalty area late in the first half of their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
But the Magpies goalkeeper raced out of his box to head the ball clear away from danger.
However, after nodding the ball away to safety, Pope clattered through Djenepo.
The Mali star, 24, collapsed to the turf and was treated by Saints medical staff on the St Mary’s pitch.
After several minutes of attention, he was able to get up and walk down the tunnel unassisted.
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However, Djenepo – who scored in the stunning quarter-final win over Manchester City – could not carry on and was replaced by Adam Armstrong as a concussion sub.
Pope was penalised with just a free-kick – but there was no further punishment in terms of a card from referee Stuart Attwell.
Fans on social media were torn over whether Pope should have been booked – or even sent off – for the challenge, while others sent their best wishes.
One wrote: “One question – would you expect a defender to get penalised for that challenge from Pope on Djenepo? Absolutely. So why isn’t Pope punished?”
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Another said: “Won the ball but out of control, red card Pope.”
A third added: “That is an absolute straight red card for Pope. Reckless, out of control, and clearly endangering another player. If that’s done by an outfield player it would be a red.”
One even blasted: “Pope almost killed Djenepo,” while a final user slammed: “What was Nick Pope doing there? Absolutely flattened Djenepo.”
But another replied: “Fantastic, brave goalkeeping. Unfortunate for Djenepo, hopefully he is okay.”
And a Toon supporter commented: “Pope is entitled to go for the ball and gets there first. His momentum carries him through and I’d ask you where is he meant to go?
“This is football, not Harry Potter – he can’t just magically disappear.”
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The Pope-Djenepo incident was the second big decision for Attwell in the first half on the south coast.
Earlier on, he chalked off Joelinton’s volleyed opener because he deemed the ball brushed off the Brazilian’s arm before he fired into the back of the net.
VAR took a look at the replays but could not find a conclusive angle to confirm there was no infringement.
But Andre Marriner did intervene to rule Armstrong’s bundled finish out because the ball clearly did bounce off his arm and then his knee before rolling in – just minutes after Joelinton blazed a horror miss over but then tapped in the opener from point-blank range.
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That proved to be the only goal of the first leg as Duje Caleta-Car was sent off for a second yellow after blatantly tripping Allan Saint-Maximin.
It means the Toon will take an all-important 1-0 lead back to St James’ Park next week with a place in February’s Wembley final up for grabs.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
