FORMER Newcastle and Saints forward Alan Shearer labelled Ben Brereton Diaz "embarrassing" following Fabian Schar's red card on Saturday.

Shearer insisted that the Swiss international could have "no complaints" about seeing red but slammed Brereton Diaz's reaction.

The two clashed heads at St James' Park during Newcastle's 1-0 win in their opening game of the 2024/25 season.

Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer said: “They can’t have too many complaints. You know the law, if you put your head into someone, you run the risk of a red card.

“The argument will be that he takes the bait completely. It’s embarrassing what Brereton Diaz does and the way he reacts like that.

“It really is embarrassing and not nice to see. But they both put their heads together - it’s just the way he goes down.

“Ok, it’s a red card, I’m not going to come and complain about that. He deserves it and they are going to be punished."

Newcastle's winning goal, scored by Joelinton on the stroke of half-time came directly following an error from Alex McCarthy while playing out from the back.

The veteran goalkeeper had enjoyed a bright start to the game before he passed directly to Alexander Isak, allowing the Sweden international to square for Joelinton.

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart was also in the Match of the Day studio and explained why he felt McCarthy got things wrong.

 “As Russell Martin said, the narrative will be about this one mistake," he said. "In possession, Southampton played that ball out all afternoon with not a problem.

“They played really well and kept possession. McCarthy has three options and he will be used to this having worked with Russell Martin for a long time now.

“He got it slightly wrong. It was a sloppy touch. I’ve been known to kick the odd post - but that shows he knows how important it is for his team.

“From looking at it, I think he’s got stuck between two passes and he’s ended up making none. That’s the Premier League. Just like Ipswich, if you mess up, there’s Isak and Joelinton.”