Wednesday night’s match ended Crystal Palace 2 Newcastle 0.
Ahead of each match we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives following the game.
Plenty to talk about after this one…
On this occasion it is ‘Matt Busby said to Joe Harvey…’:
POSITIVES
The Boy from Brazil
Thank goodness for Bruno Guimaraes.
He is a fantastic player and carries our midfield.
If it wasn’t for him, we’d have been on an even stickier wicket this evening.
I sincerely hope we don’t lose him in the summer. That would be an unmitigated disaster.
Our Goal Difference didn’t suffer too much
With Man United stealing a march on us tonight, it might feel like 6th place is a long shot, but we’ve still got to play them and our goal difference is vastly superior, which the pundits will tell you is worth a point at the business end of the season.
Calum Wilson is back
It was good to see our number nine back in the squad and given a run out after an hour.
Whilst he didn’t offer too much this evening, Callum could well play a pivotal part in the run in.
NEGATIVES
It was the manner of the defeat that stung
That performance was a bit gutless wasn’t it?
Too many passes going astray, weak in the tackle and not enough fight.
We were second best all over the park and got what we deserved. Zilch.
Denied a certain penalty?
Both the referee and VAR can’t be wrong can they?
When Longstaff went down, my initial thought was what it usually is in such circumstances – ‘why can’t he stay on his feet?’
I think the replay showed that Sean was hard done by and had it been given, we might have got a foothold in the game at a crucial time
We came up against a team in good form
Palace have been bang average all season but that’s their third win on the bounce after getting a result at Anfield and trouncing West Ham on Sunday.
We also came into this with our tails up having hammered Spurs 4-0, but despite the 11 days between our most recent games, I was surprised that compared to Palace, our energy levels looked severely depleted.
Stats via BBC Sport:
Crystal Palace 2 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 24 April 8pm
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Palace:
Mateta 55, 88
(Half-time stats in brackets)
Possession was Palace 47% (51%) Newcastle 53% (49%)
Total shots were Palace 20 (9) Newcastle 6 (1)
Shots on target were Palace 7 (5) Newcastle 2 (0)
Corners were Palace 7 (4) Newcastle 2 (0)
Referee: Thomas Bramall
Newcastle team v Crystal Palace:
Dubravka, J Murphy (Wilson 65), Krafth, Schar, Burn, Longstaff (White 90), Bruno, Anderson (Ritchie 90), Gordon, Barnes (Hall 65), Isak
Unused subs:
Karius, Dummett, Livramento, A Murphy, Parkinson
(Match Report – Crystal Palace 2 Newcastle 0 – United get what they deserved – Read HERE)
Newcastle United matches now confirmed for rest of the season:
Saturday 27 April 2024 – Newcastle v Sheff Utd (3pm)
Saturday 4 May 2024 – Burnley v Newcastle (3pm)
Saturday 11 May 2024 – Newcastle v Brighton (3pm)
Wednesday 15 May 2024 – Man U v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports
Sunday 19 May 2024 – Brentford v Newcastle (4pm)
(The final day of the season live TV matches will be selected closer to the day but all 10 PL games will be same time same day)
Wednesday 22 May 2024 – Tottenham v Newcastle (at MCG – Melbourne Cricket Ground)
Friday 24 May 2024 – A-League All Stars team v Newcastle (at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne)
