Gordon hits back at 'complete nonsense' from Rooney and Shearer
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Anthony Gordon looked like he wanted to get something off his chest.
"Usually I don't like to clear stuff up because I don't care too much," the Newcastle United forward told Match of the Day on Saturday.
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"But this one does need clearing up because it was just nonsense."
Gordon had just fired his side to an impressive 1-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
However, he found himself in the headlines for an altogether different reason before the match.
Gordon was unable to start the first leg of Newcastle's Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona on Tuesday because of illness.
It led to criticism from a host of leading pundits.
Roy Keane questioned how Gordon was able to come on midway through the second half that night, yet was not fit enough to line up from the off.
Alan Shearer said it would take "something extraordinary to keep myself out of this game".
Wayne Rooney, who was on punditry duty pitchside, asked why Gordon "wouldn't shake our hands" beforehand only to then "sit in a dressing room with his team-mates".
It clearly unnerved Gordon.
'The manager told me I wasn't playing'
What few people knew at the time was that Gordon had been in bed ill for three days.
He was unable to even take part in a walkthrough session on the morning of the Barca match.
As much as Gordon nonetheless felt "ready to start" that evening, it was head coach Eddie Howe who made the final decision to bench him after speaking to the club's medical team.
"When I got to the stadium the manager told me I wasn't playing, which I didn't like very much, but that's his decision and the team played well," he said.
"Saying I didn't want to play in the biggest game of my career is absolute nonsense.
"I think Rooney said I went past and didn't shake their hands and went into the changing room. I didn't.
"I got changed by myself in a changing room the size of this. It was just me and a sink. Complete nonsense. I think they need to do better at what they are doing."
Howe and Gordon were in agreement that he was fit enough to start at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. The 25-year-old certainly looked it.
His goal proved the difference against Chelsea, but Gordon's selfless work without the ball was crucial to this win, too.
Gordon led Newcastle's press from the front - making more high-intensity pressures in the opposition half than any other player - and also raced back to help his team-mates on a number of occasions.
At one point, just as it looked like Chelsea captain Reece James was about to get a shot away from a dangerous position, Gordon sprinted back to make a challenge, taking a nasty knock in the process.
No wonder so many members of the coaching staff and a number of Gordon's team-mates made a beeline for him at full-time.
"He's so single-minded and focused on what he needs to do that a lot of the noise just brushes off him, which is a great thing to be able to do if you're him," Howe said.
"I'd encourage every player to do it. Don't get distracted, don't absorb it, don't take anything in - just focus on what you need to do.
"That's what he always does. He's been in a really good place of late. I've been very happy with what he's delivered. This was a big game and he really stepped up. He scored the goal but contributed in so many ways to the win."
Away form turns before huge night at Nou Camp
This was certainly a victory to savour for Howe.
Newcastle had only ever won once at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, back in 2012.
You suspect even the watching Ant and Dec did not necessarily envisage that hoodoo ending on Saturday.
Going into this game, only Leeds United, Burnley and Wolves had picked up fewer points than Newcastle (13) on the road in the Premier League.
However, Newcastle's wretched away form had been quietly turning following wins at Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Qarabag in recent weeks.
Those triumphs were not exactly foregone conclusions given the travel sickness Howe's team previously suffered with.
But the manager noted how Newcastle's athleticism - a hallmark of this side at their best - has returned of late, and Gordon's goal against Chelsea was a case in point.
Tino Livramento picked up the ball in the centre-back position yet had the legs to race away from a couple of blue shirts to slip a through ball beyond Chelsea's high line to the rapid Joe Willock, who unselfishly squared to Gordon to finish.
Newcastle showed their mettle to see the game out, which felt timely before Wednesday's trip to the Nou Camp.
"We needed to win today to give us any chance of winning in Barcelona and progressing through the Champions League," Howe added.
"It's such a difficult game. You need the confidence that winning gives you."