Newcastle United suffered a 2-1 defeat to Marseille at Stade Velodrome on Tuesday in the Champions League, losing after taking an early lead through man-of-the-minute Harvey Barnes.
The result marked Newcastle’s
fourth straight away loss in all competitions and left their progress to the knockout rounds uncertain.
Newcastle started nicely, pressing high and forcing Marseille into early mistakes, so much so that the Magpies went ahead in the sixth minute. Joe Willock broke forward, found Sandro Tonali, whose cut-back deflected to Anthony Gordon, and Barnes finished left-footed.
Newcastle nearly doubled their lead from a Malick Thiaw header, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg cleared off the line.
Marseille grew into the match as the half progressed, with former EPL men Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both threatening Nick Pope’s goal.
Newcastle continued to create on the counter, however, with Gordon forcing a save from Geronimo Rulli, but with the team increasingly (and worryingly) pinned back.
The match changed immediately after half-time. Within 18 seconds of the restart, Darryl Bakola’s long ball found Aubameyang, who rounded Pope and finished from a tight angle to equalise. If you’re still on the Pope ship, join us and jump off!
Four minutes later, Timothy Weah crossed from the right and Aubameyang beat Schar to the near post, turning in the winner.
Newcastle had a goal from Barnes ruled out for offside but rarely tested Rulli again, despite late efforts from Willock and another nightmarish trip far from SJP.
After the match, Eddie Howe said, “We’d worked ourselves into a strong position but 10 minutes at the start of the second half cost us. We dealt well with the hostile atmosphere but we didn’t react well to their first goal. It’s a big disappointment because we played so well in the first half. There’s a big feeling of frustration.”
Wether it’s Pope’s or Howe’s, someone’s head won’t be safe for long if things keep going this way on games played away.
Newcastle’s next match is yet again on the road, this time visiting Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, Nov. 29, with kick-off scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET.
