Kieran Trippier missed his penalty as Newcastle lost to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup quarter final (Photo: Getty)
Eddie Howe says ‘it’s now our turn to support Kieran Trippier’ after the Newcastle United star made two very costly mistakes in the loss to Chelsea.
The Magpies seemed destined to reach the Carabao Cup semi-finals for the second season running after Callum Wilson gave them an early lead at StamfordBridge on Tuesday night.
The Blues spurned chance after chance as the away side’s defence held firm – until the 92nd minute when Trippier attempted to head the ball back to keeper Martin Dubravka but got it all wrong.
This allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to pounce, fire in an equaliser and send the match to penalties.
Chelsea scored all of their spot kicks, but Trippier, stepping up for Newcastle’s second pen, fired his wide before Matt Ritchie’s effort was saved by Dorde Petrovic to send the home side through.
Trippier has been one of Newcastle’s best signings since the Saudi-led takeover but the England full-back has not looked himself of late, much to the concern of fans.
But Howe has urged the club to rally around the 33-year-old, saying: ‘After giving us so much, it’s now our turn to support Kieran.
Eddie Howe’s side reached the Carabao Cup final last season (Photo: Getty)
‘I’m sure he doesn’t feel fantastic because he prides himself on his technical excellence & the quality of his defensive work.
‘He’s been a transformative signing for us and has glued the dressing room together. He’s been the heartbeat of our performances.’
Howe’s players needed no instruction to do just that, with the Magpies squad quick to embrace and comfort Trippier and Ritchie after the shoot-out, with this a gut-wrenching week for the club having also been knocked out of the Champions League.
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‘It hurts a lot. It’s a very similar feeling to the end of the PSG game,’ the manager added.
‘The lads had committed so much, gave everything and we led for so long. We’d defended really, really well but we didn’t get over the line. Whenever we concede we concede collectively not individually.
‘I can’t praise the players enough. We tried to refocus and forget the last part of the game and the fact that we were in a shootout to try to get to the semi-final. Penalty shootouts are always a lottery and we didn’t quite win it then.’
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