Two Newcastle football players fight each other, both sent off

April 3, 2005

Barclaycard Premiership football match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa ended up with a fight between two teammates. Newcastle hasn't lost a single game since January 23 and looked as favourites for their April 2 home match against Aston Villa. However things haven't went as planned. On the 5th minute of the game Juan Pablo Angel scored for the away side. Villa continued to dominate and in the second half any hopes of fightback for Newcastle were shattered as Steven Taylor got sent off for the deliberate handball. The foul warranted a penalty and Gareth Barry scored from the spot. Seven minutes later he did it again, after Stephen Carr brought down Darius Vassell inside the box.

However, it was not a result that disappointed Toon fans the most. Two Newcastle players, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, engaged in a fight in the middle of the pitch at the sight of the crowd. Referee Barry Knight made a decision to send both off. After the match, manager Graeme Souness made no excuse for the behavior of the players; however he defended Dyer, as it was Bowyer who started punching him. Both players could be facing 3-match bans by the English Football Association.