He believed they deserved more than a draw against Southampton - which was a result Ralph Hasenhuttl had to be happy with.
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Steve Bruce bemoaned the rate at which Newcastle United are giving penalties away, believing they deserved more than a draw against Southampton.
Newcastle went in front twice against their visitors on Saturday afternoon, looking to have won it when Allan Saint-Maximin scored in the 90th minute. But they conceded a penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time to allow Southampton a point.
Jamaal Lascelles fouled Adam Armstrong, leading to a penalty that James Ward-Prowse converted. It gives Bruce something to reflect on over the international break after being denied a first win of the season.
He told Match of the Day: “After watching it back, I think it is the right decision but it was a charade for VAR to give it. In my opinion this needs to be addressed.
“We did turn it around. We didn’t play anywhere near good enough in the first half. Second half we showed much better to get on the ball to have the courage to go forward and play forward. It was much better second half.
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“In my opinion we have taken the lead twice and deserved to go on and win it. We’ve now given three penalties away and it’s cost us badly.
“You are always at your most vulnerable when you score. We have scored with two or three minutes to play and haven’t seen it through. That’s disappointing – of course it is – but the decision has gone against us. We just have to take it and stop making these decisions that give penalties away.
“It’s tough to take, a penalty decided by VAR, and we are all bitterly disappointed.”
Southampton also remain winless from their opening three league games, but their mood will have been much more positive after fighting from behind twice.
Their coach Ralph Hasenhuttl was pleased with the mentality they showed to never give in and didn’t mind not getting three points.
He said: “You have to be happy [with a point] after a game like that.
“We had a lot of chances to go in the lead. In the second half, we concede the first goal, so we changed the shape a little bit. In the end you concede a goal and you think ‘oof, unbelievable’. Only the mentality and the belief meant that we draw the game.
“We stopped trying to score and I think we have shown we have quality to score. It was really good that the referee looked the VAR [for the penalty] and in the end, an absolute deserved point for us.
“You know our history here in the last three years so you think it is not possible for us to take something here. But we cannot play much better than the first half today and normally you must get something. Finally we must take the point and keep in going.
“A draw is better than losing here. It is good that we have a two-week break coming up and not losing here.”
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