Newcastle shocker that angry ref chat can’t mask and Palace diehards show no mercy – 5 things

Newcastle United have slipped to seventh in the table following a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Jean-Philippe Mateta gave the hosts a deserved lead in the 55th minute following a clever one-two with Jordan Ayew and the striker sealed all three points late on when he fired the ball through Martin Dubravka’s legs.

Here are five things we learned from the game.

READ MORE: Crystal Palace vs Newcastle United highlights

Newcastle taken apart too easily

To think Michael Olise’s omission from the starting line-up felt significant when the team sheets dropped. In truth, Crystal Palace did not even need their in-form forward, who was introduced after Palace took the lead. That’s how poor Newcastle were.

Noting Palace’s threats out wide, Eddie Howe opted to match the hosts and field the same fluid set-up that worked so well against Spurs last time out as Jacob Murphy and Elliot Anderson lined up at wing-back in a 3-4-3. However, it did not work anywhere near as effectively this time around and Newcastle were quickly pinned back.

Yet you wondered if Palace’s profligacy was going to cost them, after the hosts had a whopping nine shots in the first half, but the Eagles were re-energised at the break and soon broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. Jacob Murphy ran into trouble deep in his own half as two Palace players pressed him, but the makeshift wing-back managed to slide the ball to Emil Krafth. Tyrick Mitchell rushed to close Krafth down and the Sweden international’s attempted clearance only found Joachim Andersen on the halfway line, who had all the time and space he needed to pick out Eze.

Eze, likewise, had no one near him and the Palace star threaded the ball through to Mateta on the edge of the area. The striker waited a split-second to draw both Schar and Dan Burn to him before playing a clever one-two with Ayew and then drilling the ball past Martin Dubravka to put Palace in front.



Newcastle shocker that angry ref chat can’t mask and Palace diehards show no mercy – 5 things
Jean-Philippe Mateta puts Crystal Palace ahead against Newcastle United

If that was a poor goal to concede, Palace’s second was even worse from a Newcastle perspective. Newcastle again sloppily gave the ball away and Palace broke at pace. Jeffrey Schlupp cut the ball across to Will Hughes at the near post and the midfielder pulled it back to Mateta, who fired the ball through Dubravka’s legs.

Away form is costing this side

Crystal Palace’s 5-2 win against West Ham at the weekend was good news for Newcastle as the Hammers missed the chance to leapfrog the Magpies in the table. However, the sight of Palace racing into a 4-0 lead at Selhurst Park after little more than half an hour also served as a warning of sorts.

This was a side, after all, who were starting to really find their feet under Oliver Glasner after recording back-to-back wins for the first time this season against West Ham and Liverpool. Yet the Austrian was far from content. “Let’s have the third one in a row against Newcastle,” he said.

This was going to be a real test of Newcastle’s European credentials as games in London so often were when the black-and-whites qualified for the Champions League last season. It has been a different campaign in so many ways this time around – only Fulham, Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Luton Town and Sheffield United have picked up fewer points on the road than Newcastle this season – and this was another poor showing away from home.

You certainly would not have thought Newcastle had just come off the back of a 10-day break. In fact, it was Palace, contesting their third game since then, who looked sharper and more energetic as the hosts pressed the Magpies intently. Sluggish Newcastle were pinned back and, remarkably, at one stage in the first half, the visitors had just 38% possession at Selhurst Park as they struggled to get out.



Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, interacts with his players during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Newcastle Unitedes)

It brought back memories of Newcastle’s last away day, at Fulham, and, like that afternoon at Craven Cottage, Howe delivered some strong words as he gathered his players for a team talk midway through the first half after Bruno Guimaraes went down with a knock. You can be sure Howe made his point at the break, too, but unlike that win against Fulham, Newcastle were unable to rally as the visitors suffered a 10th league defeat away from home.

Penalty appeal can’t mask poor display

It looked like referee Thomas Bramall was about to point to the spot when Will Hughes threw an arm out and barged into Sean Longstaff – just as the midfielder was about to pull the trigger inside the box with a quarter of an hour to go. Longstaff went down but, following a VAR check, no penalty was given to the anger of the Geordie and those in the away end.

As Newcastle fans chanted ‘You’re not fit to referee!’, Longstaff was booked by Bramall for his own vociferous protests. That was the cue for an anti-Saudi chant from the home support, who also booed Newcastle players off the field at full-time – just as they did last season. However aggrieved Newcastle may have felt, though, the decision cannot mask how little the Magpies offered from open play.

Shot on target shocker

This has so often been a tight fixture at Selhurst Park over the years. A goalless draw here, the odd goal there. No wonder it was not selected for live broadcast in the UK.

However, you felt this was going to be different. Not only did Palace have an in-form frontline; Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes had been directly involved in 13 goals in their previous four games.

However, on just their second start together, the trio had little to feed off – just a day after Eddie Howe challenged ‘three very good individual players’ to prove that they could ‘work in tandem on a regular basis’. You could see that chemistry is still developing. In the seventh minute, for instance, Sean Longstaff sent Harvey Barnes racing into space, but the forward opted for a backheel to try and tee up Gordon when he could have had a shot himself.



Alexander Isak of Newcastle United is challenged by Dean Henderson of Crystal Palace

Isak, meanwhile, had scant service and the record signing did not have his first glimpse of goal until the half-hour mark when Bruno Guimaraes’ scooped ball over the top sent him through, but goalkeeper Dean Henderson rushed out to make the block. Damningly, it took until the 86th minute for Newcastle to finally test Henderson and, even then, it was a rather tame header from Elliot Anderson that the Palace goalkeeper comfortably dealt with. It was too little, too late.

Callum Wilson’s low-key return

Boxing Day. Remarkably, that was the last time both Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson were named on the same team sheet. That, in itself, tells its own story about Newcastle’s injury problems.

With few alternatives available, Isak has not been substituted since the start of March, but Eddie Howe at least knew he finally had another game-changer sitting behind him in Wilson. Not only could Wilson offer Isak a breather if Newcastle were in a commanding position in the second half; the number nine could also lead the line if they stayed on the pitch together and allow the Sweden international to drift into another area.

That is exactly what happened on the hour mark. With his side 1-0 down, Howe made a double change midway through the first half and threw on Wilson and Lewis Hall for Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy. However, the change in personnel did not change the outcome of this one. Wilson, in truth, did not have a sniff.

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