Eight goals shared equally between Newcastle and Luton at St James’ Park ended a scintillating but frustrating afternoon of football.
Here are the Toon’s player ratings:
Dubravka – 6/10 – Not the finest day for anyone on the pitch today, but Dubravka didn’t do too much wrong despite the scoreline.
Trippier – 7/10 – Was again creatively important and got a good goal on the volley to bring it back to 4-3 and give us a fighting chance.
Schar – 6/10 – Made a few runs into the final third and picked some lovely passes in the first half, but he was slightly indecisive, letting balls bounce and had his hands full with Adebayo and Morris’ physicality.
Botman – 5/10 – Got messed up with Burn for Luton’s fourth. Left hand side of the defence was lacking its usual physical presence.
Burn – 3/10 – A terrible day at the office and one Burn will want to forget as quickly as possible. Gave away a penalty for Luton’s third and was out of position for the fourth. Exposed by Ogbene’s pace throughout the game before being hooked off for Tino.
Bruno – 6/10 – Picked up a knock to his knee and looked winded in the first half. Passing range was lovely and he got involved high up the pitch. But not his best game.
Longstaff – 7/10 – First half brace lifted the lid off St James’ and his energy offers good balance to the midfield when he is playing well.
Miley – 6/10 – It felt like the teenager struggled with the physicality of the game at points, but his technical ability is fantastic. Looking forward to seeing him progress as a player.
Murphy – 6/10 – Offers a lot of width and his footwork is impressive in tighter spaces. Our presence on the right was greater when Almiron switched over to that flank and linked up with Trippier.
Gordon – 7/10 – Came off injured at half-time but created a lot and made Longstaff’s second with his ball-control and running.
Almiron – 6/10 – Was more of a threat when moved onto the right but didn’t really create too much other than his link up with Trippier.
Wilson – 6/10 – Hold up play was good in his battle with Osho, but he couldn’t carve out any clear cut chances.
Barnes – 7/10 – A brilliant finish for the equaliser and the biggest plus was that it didn’t look like his first game since September.
Livramento – 7/10 – He could keep up with Luton’s wide men. He will have given Howe a headache after Burn’s shocker.
Howe and coaching staff can’t keep defending Burn because of past performances, he was torn apart by quick wingers against Forest and today.
I thought the coaching staff did the right thing against Villa when Bailey came on by shoring things up.
I think this is Howes and the coaching staff’s Achilles Heel is they don’t see what’s happening on the pitch in real time and react quickly enough.
Burn might have been given a 3 but the coaching staff a 2 for me.
Livramento should have been a starter or a very early substitute for Burn.
Joseph(Quote)
More naivety from Howe, said he needed Burn height because of Luton height.
Play a back 3 then with Trippier and Livramento as wing backs, he just doesn’t seem to have a plan B.
Joseph(Quote)