Newcastle United defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Davide-Santon-c10658 has hailed the support of the fans in their 1-1 derby draw against Sunderland this past Sunday, and insists that they were the ‘11th man’ on the afternoon.
The Italian left back praised the travelling Toon faithful and admitted that the fan’s support made him forget about Newcastle’s numerical disadvantage.
The team was down to 10 men in the opening 20 minutes of the game when midfield enforcer Cheick Tiote was shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson for a tackle judged to be rash and reckless.
Newcastle had managed to take the lead in the opening minutes of the game through http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Yohan-Cabaye-c37423, and looked in prime position to continue their winning record against their most fierce local rivals.
However, Tiote’s sending off made the task really difficult for them, and they found themselves on the back foot as Sunderland kept on attacking and pressing for the equalizer. They managed to defend solidly up until a deflected header from John O’Shea levelled
the score line.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Demba-Ba-c10812 could have done little to prevent the ball from deflecting off his head as the helpless Tim Krul only looked on. However, having played almost 65 minutes with a man down, Newcastle were impressive and solid in the game.
Santon believes that the travelling supporters played a huge part in their draw, and helped spur the players on throughout the intense contest. Speaking to the club’s official website, Santon said:
“The derby is a fantastic game. Not just for us, but especially for the fans. They were amazing. They give us energy and are always behind us when we are on the pitch.”
"Even with ten men they helped us do the best we could out there and it was almost like we were playing with 11 men again. I hope they were proud of us on Sunday because we put in 100 per cent effort.
"The atmosphere for these games is unbelievable - like nothing I've experienced before. It was fantastic on Sunday. I loved it."
The player was disappointed at having dropped 2 points on the day, but was pleased with his team’s stellar and fighting effort to manage a result despite being a man down.
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