Callum McManaman escaped what was possibly the worst tackles you'll see all season after a dreadful foul on Massadio Haïdara on Sunday.
With Wigan Athletic leading 1-0 against Newcastle United at the DW Stadium, a heavy touch by Haïdara opened the door for McManaman to go for the ball.
It was an awful, awful challenge, though, as he went in studs up and caught the 20-year-old Frenchman on the knee and thigh.
The game was held up for five minutes while Haïdara, who had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes, received treatment on the pitch before he was carried off on a stretcher.
It was a clear red card for McManaman but, amazingly, referee Mark Halsey did not even book the 21-year-old making his full Premier League debut.
"It is an awful challenge. The pictures speak for themselves," Newcastle boss Alan Pardew told Sky Sports.
"I thought it was a bad challenge and I was 60 yards from the incident. The players knew because they were on top of it and there was a lot of bad feeling about that incident when it goes unpunished."
The 23rd-minute incident provoked a tunnel bust-up at half-time that saw Newcastle assistant manager John Carver try to confront McManaman - only for Wigan coach Graham Barrow to step in.
As a result both Carver and Barrow were sent to the stands by Halsey.
Pardew added: "He (Halsey) said 'If I've missed it I apologise' - that was at half-time.
"My job was to calm the players at half-time, not go looking for retribution, and try to win the second half - which to all intents and purposes we did."
Meanwhile, Wigan manager Roberto Martínez insisted McManaman was not a malicious player and said he would be apologising to Haïdara.
"I can't really comment too much because I haven't seen the action," Martínez said to Sky Sports.
"But I can guarantee that Callum McManaman is a young man full of talent and in his debut probably showed the enthusiasm that you expect, but he's not a malicious player.
"I think he wants to contact the player. I don't know if he's done it already but he will do that because when you get an injury in that manner you obviously don't want to leave any bad feelings.
"If Callum hasn't apologised yet then he definitely will do that because we're a football club where those values are very important."
To add insult to injury, Wigan eventually won 2-1 thanks to a late controversial winner from Arouna Koné after Maynor Figueroa appeared to handle the ball.
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| Callum McManaman launches himself into Massadio Haïdara's knee Photo: YouTube |
With Wigan Athletic leading 1-0 against Newcastle United at the DW Stadium, a heavy touch by Haïdara opened the door for McManaman to go for the ball.
It was an awful, awful challenge, though, as he went in studs up and caught the 20-year-old Frenchman on the knee and thigh.
The game was held up for five minutes while Haïdara, who had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes, received treatment on the pitch before he was carried off on a stretcher.
It was a clear red card for McManaman but, amazingly, referee Mark Halsey did not even book the 21-year-old making his full Premier League debut.
"It is an awful challenge. The pictures speak for themselves," Newcastle boss Alan Pardew told Sky Sports.
"I thought it was a bad challenge and I was 60 yards from the incident. The players knew because they were on top of it and there was a lot of bad feeling about that incident when it goes unpunished."
 | |
| Newcastle manager Alan Pardew consoles Massadio Haïdara who is stretchered off Photo: Getty Images |
The 23rd-minute incident provoked a tunnel bust-up at half-time that saw Newcastle assistant manager John Carver try to confront McManaman - only for Wigan coach Graham Barrow to step in.
As a result both Carver and Barrow were sent to the stands by Halsey.
Pardew added: "He (Halsey) said 'If I've missed it I apologise' - that was at half-time.
"My job was to calm the players at half-time, not go looking for retribution, and try to win the second half - which to all intents and purposes we did."
Meanwhile, Wigan manager Roberto Martínez insisted McManaman was not a malicious player and said he would be apologising to Haïdara.
"I can't really comment too much because I haven't seen the action," Martínez said to Sky Sports.
"But I can guarantee that Callum McManaman is a young man full of talent and in his debut probably showed the enthusiasm that you expect, but he's not a malicious player.
"I think he wants to contact the player. I don't know if he's done it already but he will do that because when you get an injury in that manner you obviously don't want to leave any bad feelings.
"If Callum hasn't apologised yet then he definitely will do that because we're a football club where those values are very important."
To add insult to injury, Wigan eventually won 2-1 thanks to a late controversial winner from Arouna Koné after Maynor Figueroa appeared to handle the ball.
