Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has received heavy criticism on social media for a comment he made while interviewing Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle following Sunday’s Premier League clash against Liverpool.

Newcastle were moments way from securing a hugely impressive opening weekend victory against the Reds, but a late penalty converted by Dominik Szoboszlai denied the Magpies two valuable points at St. James’ Park.

Anthony Elanga put Newcastle 1-0 up in the fifth minute before Cody Gakpo equalised early in the second half. Joe Willock restored the hosts’ advantage in the 57th minute, leaving Jaissle on the verge of the perfect start to his Premier League career with Newcastle following a turbulent summer for the club.

However, Szoboszlai silenced the home crowd in the ninth minute of stoppage time, firing an unstoppable penalty past summer signing Lukas Hornicek as Andoni Iraola’s side snatched a point.

Jaissle Frustrated With ‘Really Soft’ Penalty

Reuters/Lee Smith

Speaking after the match, Jaissle – who replaced Eddie Howe at Newcastle this summer following a three-year spell with Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia – said he had to be careful “not to get fined” after Liverpool were awarded a “really soft” late penalty after Lewis Hall was judged to have fouled Víctor Munoz inside the box.

“It was a really soft one,” Jaissle told reporters, per ESPN. “If you give that, there will be so many penalties in the future. I am not a fan of that, I have to say.”

On Newcastle’s overall performance, the German coach added: “Hard luck, I would say. I’m really, really happy with the performance after such a short amount of time.

“The guys were fighting till the end, they put their heart on the pitch and this is something we said that’s not negotiable.

“That’s the standard. And together with the crowd, it was, in general, a really good performance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the full three points.

“The heads are a little bit down, but they’re also realistic; they know that we had many mini challenges already. There’s a huge transition phase at the moment. But we tried already, and encouraged them that this is another part where we got some challenges to overcome.

“Someone was throwing some stones on the way. I need to be careful, not to get fined.”

Jaissle has also earned further respect from Newcastle fans for his response after Schmeichel, working for Viaplay, told the manager directly: “We [Manchester United] are looking at your left-back.”

Unsure whether he really had just heard Schmeichel’s comment, Jaissle replied: “Pardon?”

When the legendary goalkeeper repeated his comment, claiming Man Utd want to sign England international Lewis Hall, Jaissle said: “No chance. No chance.” Watch the clip below:

Fuming fans on X (Twitter) have slammed Schmeichel for his ‘unprofessional’ comment.

“So unprofessional by Schmeichel,” one fan commented, while another said: “Proper muggy behaviour from Schmeichel.”

A third fan wrote: “Schmeichel should never be on air ever again after that. Disgraceful,” while a fourth added:

A fifth said: “Embarrassing from Peter Schmeichel,” and a sixth said: “That’s totally wrong and unprofessional.”