Newcastle United striker Ayoze Perez has insisted that Fabricio Coloccini's dismissal before half time changed the course of the Wear-Tyne derby.
The Magpies had the better of the opening 44 minutes against Sunderland before the Argentine was sent off for bringing down Steven Fletcher in the penalty area by referee Bobby Madley, who awarded the Black Cats a spot kick.
Adam Johnson converted the penalty and strikes in the second half from Billy Jones and Fletcher won the match for Sam Allardyce's team. However, Perez feels that he and his teammates did not deserve to leave the Stadium of Light with nothing from the contest.
Perez told the club's official website: "Yeah [the red card did change the game].
"I don't want to say anything about the penalty but of course a sending-off makes a real impact on the game and that's what happened.
"We played really well, we don't deserve this. Yes, [we are] disappointed."
Newcastle dropped to 19th in the table as a result of their defeat.
Simon Sinclair
