Leeds United's miserable afternoon at Newport County was compounded by the last-minute dismissal of Samuel Saiz in the FA Cup third-round defeat at Newport County.

Leeds conceded an 89th-minute goal to Shawn McCoulsky to lose 2-1 at Rodney Parade and tempers flared after the winning goal, with Saiz accused of spitting at a Newport player in the immediate aftermath.

Here's what we know so far about the incident - and what could happen if the Spaniard is found guilty of spitting.

What happened?

Saiz is alleged to have spat at a Newport player, with some suggestions that it was Robbie Willmott - though that has yet to be confirmed.

The Spaniard was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Dean for the incident, which happened immediately after the Newport winning goal.

Samuel Saiz looks set to miss a number of games for Leeds United

Dean confirmed to journalists in passing after the game that Saiz had spat at a Newport player but did not confirm the identity of the person in question.

What could happen next?

Saiz will definitely miss the next three matches, which are against Ipswich Town (a), Millwall (h) and Hull City (a).

Leeds will await video evidence but the FA could throw the book at Saiz for the incident and extend his ban to a possible six matches.

That would mean he is out of the following fixtures against Cardiff City (h), Sheffield United (a) and Bristol City (h).

Has this happened before?


The most recent high-profile example saw both Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse given lengthy suspensions for a spitting incident involving both back in March 2015.

Evans was given a six-match ban while Cisse was handed a seven-game absence after the altercation during a game between Newcastle United and Manchester United.

Then Port Vale manager Michael Brown actually accused Saiz of spitting at one of his players during Leeds' Carabao Cup win over the League Two club back in August.

"The guy who scored three goals spits in Joe Davis' face in the 40th minute and it is very hard to take," he said.

"So that certainly knocked us off balance. We asked their staff to take him off, they ignored that and he scored three goals."

The FA did clear

What did Thomas Christiansen say about the incident?

The Leeds manager was asked about the incident by journalists following the game.

"I don't know, I didn't see it," he said.

"I don't know, when I know I will come back.

"If it's right, why he got the red card, it's a problem.

"But I believe that he didn't do it."

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