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Eddie Howe’s Mags could not weather the South London storm as we were picked off by a Crystal Palace side who were the better team from start to finish.
The Eagles’ Jean-Phillipe Mateta bagged a brace as a below-par Toon did not even muster a single shot on target until the final 10 minutes of a game we never got to grips with. We were second best in all departments, looked surprisingly flat and a shadow of the side that blew away Spurs 4-0 in our last outing.
It is a missed opportunity to stake a claim for sixth in the league, with advantage swinging to Manchester United, who leapfrog us and move into the Europa League spot after their 4-2 win over Sheffield United.
The Toon performance lacked precision in the first half, with Palace getting to the second ball more often than not. The Eagles pressed us well and were by far the superior team in the first half, creating more, holding the ball better and looking more energetic.
It was almost a carbon copy of the first half we saw against Fulham recently. At Selhurst Park we only managed one shot in the first 45 minutes.
The second half started brighter, with a couple of half chances for the Toon down the wings. But a poor clearance from Krafth allowed Palace to win the ball high up the pitch and Mateta played a one-two with Ayew and struck the ball past Dubravka into the bottom left corner.
It forced Howe into a change as it was clear that the system that worked so well against Spurs was not working here. He introduced Wilson and Hall after the hour mark and we moved to a more comfortable shape.
And with around 10 minutes to play Longstaff was slipped into the box and caught by Joachim Andersen. There was initial confusion as the ref looked to have given a penalty, but his gesture was for a goal kick and VAR did not deem the contact enough to give the pen. It felt like a harsh decision given the clear contact on Longstaff and should have been checked more thoroughly by VAR.
Then, the worst happened. Mateta…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/04/24/palace-2-0-newcastle-disjointed-toon-beaten-on-damaging-night-for-european-push/
Author : Joshua Nichol
Publish date : 2024-04-24 21:10:34
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