Newcastle defender Dan Byrne was rushed to hospital after a violent collision during the first half of the 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. A strong tackle from Nordi Mukiele meant Byrne was unable to continue playing at the Stadium of Light, putting his place in the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Fulham in doubt.
The Magpies are currently severely weakened in their final line, with Sven Botman and Kieran Trippier already sidelined. Manager Eddie Howe provided an update: “He was having trouble breathing at half-time, which was a big problem. Dan Byrne has gone to hospital to have his ribs checked so we hope he’s okay.”
Reflecting on the defeat against Wearside, a visibly disappointed Howe admitted in a press conference:
“We tried to give our best performance but we weren’t able to do it. We’re disappointed in ourselves and feel like we left something on the pitch and it feels terrible.”
The Newcastle manager did not justify the defeat, but an unlucky own goal from Nick Woltemade sealed the deal. “It wasn’t our best game,” Howe said.
“There was an effort, but the quality wasn’t there. It was a game where we didn’t really have many chances with freak goals, and we didn’t get the opening goal we wanted.
“The goal came at a really bad time, and it was a really bad set-up. Nick didn’t mean to do that, but it decided the game. I thought we defended pretty well.”
Newcastle have struggled to overcome their fierce rivals and will likely mourn the loss of Byrne, who would have been in a position to head a cross deflected into his own net by striker Waltemade.
However, some disappointing performances continued their dismal run against Sunderland, with them not winning a Premier League match between the two sides since 2011.
