Pround Neil Warnock sees Kenedy penalty miss as 'poetic justice'
Cardiff and Newcastle battled out a dramatic goalless draw at CCS on Saturday but it could have been a different outcome. Sean Morrison was judged to have handled in the box in the 96th minute but Newcastle player Kenedy saw his spot kick saved by Neil Etheridge before Craig Pawson blew the final whislte.
When asked about the penalty award Neil Warnock said
"I was disappointed. I thought it was a hairline away, his arm was close to being outside of the box, his body was in the box, but no complaints, if you put your hand up, what do you do? I think it's a hard job to do."
There could be retrospective action taken against Kenedy, not for his penalty miss, but for a lash out at Vicor Camarasa. The severity of a blatant kick at the City player was missed by the officials who awarded a free kick but took no action against the player.
"I never even saw that Kenedy should have been sent off in the first half," Warnock commented. "I was like the referee, I looked away and missed it. The fourth official saw it to give the foul but he didn't know how bad it was either."
And Warnock's thoughts on the match and the occasion.
"There was never a dull moment, it was quite exciting for a 0-0. I was quite pleased with the whole afternoon, apart from not scoring.
"In the last third we could have done better with the ball and created better chances than we did. I thought our free-kicks were poor aswell so there are things to work on.
"But overall I enjoyed it. I watched Birmingham last night and thought 'thank goodness we're not here'.
"We had a full house here and the fans have gone home happy because we've played some good football."
And what would have happened if Kenedy had scored the penalty and won the game for Newcastle?
"It would’ve been devastating, to lose at that stage. It was poetic justice I thought.
"My dad used to say what goes around comes around I suppose. The penalty miss was poetic justice.
"I was really proud to be the manager of this club today. I thought the club, right the way through, I thought this was what we've worked hard to do, and we're not going to give up without a fight so I was really pleased for the lads today.
Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez offered the following thoughts on the match.
“It was a strange game. We knew it would be physical and difficult, and it was.
“We put ourselves under pressure with some mistakes.
“After there were many things I did not like too much but the positive was we got a point, and with the team-mate and effort.
“The three points were there for us, so I’m disappointed.
“They were dangerous because they have big lads, but we were doing OK.
“We missed the final pass on counter attacks, and we needed to take our first-half chances.
“We missed a bit of control, and then we missed the penalty which was the key.
“We had to try to get three points, as we have to do in every game. Cardiff could be close to us so it’s important to do well."