Another away game, another collapse from 1-0 up and a Champions League defeat that ends our run of three-straight wins in Europe.
Harvey Barnes put us 1-0 up just six minutes in, continuing his great form with an early strike that we fully deserved in a first-half display full of running, fast counter attacks and some resolute defending.
But, just as we saw in recent away games at Brentford and West Ham, a costly error from Nick Pope sparked a Newcastle collapse and Marseille comeback, turning the game on its head in five disastrous second half minutes that we never really recovered from.
A massive chance missed to boost our bid for a top eight finish, especially when two of our final three Champions League games see us travel to Bayer Leverkusen (who just won at Man City tonight) and PSG.
Eddie Howe has made THREE changes from Saturday, seeing Dan Burn, Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon replace Lewis Hall, Joelinton and Nick Woltemade.
Newcastle XI: Pope – Murphy, Thiaw, Schar, Burn, Livramento – Willock, Bruno, Tonali, Barnes – Gordon.
Subs: Thompson, Ramsdale, Hall, Botman, Joelinton, Elanga, Woltemade, A.Murphy, Ramsey, Miley, Alabi.
Marseille XI: Rulli – Weah, Pavard, Balerdi (c), Emerson – Hojbjerg, Vermeeren – Greenwood, Bakola, Paixao – Aubameyang.
We made an outstanding start, going man-for-man, pressing Marseille and going close through Thiaw as his header was cleared off the line by Hojbjerg before Barnes gave us a deserved lead just six minutes in!
Tonali’s run and cross was met by Gordon, and his effort fell the way of Barnes in the box, who made no mistake and fired into the corner. The dream start that sent over 3,000 Mags wild, making it four goals in three games for the former Leicester winger and seven for the season.
It’s Harvey Barnes again 😮💨
A dream start in Marseille as Barnes smashes home to give Newcastle an early lead.@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/1XNLlSmqWG
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 25, 2025
Willock’s running was causing problems and got Marseille’s Balerdi in the book early on, although Marseille did go close on the 20-minute mark as Aubameyang’s quick touch and strike forced Pope into his first save.
We were defending well and looked dangerous on the break, with Tonali and Willock both having low shots saved either side of a slack Bruno through ball that almost put Barnes clean through. Another big chance to go through on goal was then wasted by Murphy, who passed up a huge chance to slip Gordon in behind 10 minutes before the break.
Marseille were enjoying much more of the ball (72%) at this point, but the space was there for us to break on a Marseille back line that didn’t look quick enough to handle Gordon, Willock or Barnes if we could just get that final ball right.
An embarrassing dive from Bakola then saw the Marseille youngster booked in a shameless attempt to con the referee, although we were lucky to remain ahead seconds later as Greenwood’s superb cross for Aubameyang was somehow headed wide by the former Arsenal striker. A BIG let off just over five minutes before the break.
Next we had Thiaw to thank, not for the first time this season, as Tonali’s awful giveaway handed another clear opening to Aubameyang. However, just as he looked to go around Schar, the big German recovered superbly with a saving tackle.
An end-to-end game full of action and yellow cards then threw up another chance, this time at the right end as Gordon broke free and saw a shot across goal well-saved by Rulli. Another nearly moment arrived for Gordon in the last seconds of first half stoppage time, as a lung-busting run and burst of pace from Willock ended with a cross that was inches away from finding our number 10.
It was the best 45 minutes we’d seen from Willock in a LONG time, Barnes was sharp again and Thiaw imperious at the back. Sadly, however, our fast start would quickly turn sour.
The second half couldn’t have started any worse and it was all on Pope. Within a minute of the restart, he came flying out into no man’s land, needlessly inviting Aubameyang to go wide and shoot into an empty goal. A superb finish, yes, but a horrendous error from Pope that handed Marseille a huge lift in a game we had been in control of. And it would soon get worse.
Take a bow, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 💫
A stunning finish and it’s game on in Marseille.@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/yuFCGJWe6c
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 25, 2025
Minutes later, it was 2-1 and we hadn’t even reached the 50-minute mark. Livramento was beaten by Weah, his cross found Aubameyang and the striker’s near post effort flew past Pope after finding space between Burn and Schar.
There was still goals for us here, highlighted by a powerful Willock strike that almost handed us an immediate equaliser. But we had to wake up at the other end or this was going to be game over before we knew it.
Howe reacted with a trio of changes with half an hour to play, with Hall, Miley and Elanga replacing Livramento, Schar and Murphy in a move that saw us revert to a back four, where Miley dropped in at right-back in Trippier and Krafth’s absence.
Woltemade and Ramsey then came on as Howe rolled the dice again, taking off the impressive Willock and frustrating Gordon. Two attacking moves, but it was hard to work out who was playing where over the final 15 minutes as our shape suffered from the five second half changes.
A chance then came Elanga’s way after good work from Woltemade, although that was blocked and the resulting corner was another nearly moment as Thiaw’s knock down was not capitalisd on by Burn. Barnes was next to go close, only for his curling effort to curl just wide of Rulli’s far post with just over five minutes remaining.
A painful end to a game we threw away in five shocking second half minutes, as we huffed and puffed in stoppage time but found no way past a Marseille side who’d been gifted a win in a game where we totally let slip of our first half dominance.
At times tonight we looked like a side who were turning the corner, as that first half was really encouraging, but the start to that second half was shambolic and a killer blow that ultimately cost us.
Next up, a trip to Everton on Saturday and absolutely vital that we deliver a 90-minute performance on the road.
Keep the faith. Howay the lads.
Another blunder from Pope. That let Marseille in and got the crowd going. You couldn’t blame him for the second but again it’s another one of those where you expect something. He just put his arms up. There are to many of those blunders.
Said before his kicking game: dead ball and in play is dreadful. Joe Cole said at half time if you make mistakes in the Champions league you’ll get punished.
The little birdy(Quote)
I thought TNT were overly complimentary about our first half performance. I (unfortunately) missed the first 10 mins of the game which may have explained it…but I wasn’t seeing a tactical masterclass in the 35+mins I saw.
My notes were:
– Murphy should not be played at RWB
– This was one of Willock’s slightly better games, but he really isn’t up to it
– It must be time to drop Pope and give Ramsdale a go
– Do we need to rest Bruno more – he was so poor today. Is he tired?
– Thiaw is on a different level to the rest of the team
– The big one: Howe needs to make changes before the problem occurs. It always feels like our subs are late reactions after we have already conceded. It would be good to spot things aren’t really working and try and get ahead of it. We have the squad to do this now.
Howe the toon(Quote)
All in all I don’t actually think the performance was too bad….but maybe I’m just used to recent away displays.
The main negative for me (except pope and gordon) was dead ball situations. No idea what this coach tells them.
Scott(Quote)
Yeah our corners and free kicks need improving to be fair.
Pope surely in last chance saloon now, punches when he should catch,hopeless with his feet and has too many brain farts. Hasn’t been right since his injury imo. Looks low on confidence to me as well.
I really don’t like scape goating and as much as he cost us dearly last night he wasn’t the only one at fault. Gordon was not very good, just can’t get out from under his feet when in front of goal and a gift of a chance, frustrating. Likewise Nicky was getting all tied in knots with his feet at times, and it seems opo players are now just shamelessly pulling him back with refs just letting it happen both in PL and CL.
Murphy not great but that was positional mostly and sorry but I don’t rate Willock or Elanga at this time but hoping Elanga comes good.
kimtoon(Quote)
When was the last time we actually scored from a direct free kick? All I can think of was Trippier about 4 years ago and that was his last goal I think. Can anyone remember a more recent one? What happened to this so called set piece coach?
I said during the first half I was getting vibes of the Brentford and West Ham matches when we just sat back and conceded play after we scored. Sadly that proved correct. Most players can get away with the odd error, but Unfortunately, when a goalie makes an error it usually leads to a goal. And Pope has cost us again! WTF was he thinking? Maybe he just wasn’t thinking.
We could’ve won that game, we had the chances to do so, or at least get a draw, but game management has disappeared too. Gordon is NOT a centre forward, no matter how much he wants to be, but the fault is not entirely his either. Apart from a few, Barnes, Thiaw, Burn … the rest were woeful.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Pope cost us the game last night. I wouldn’t have him in the england team putting it nicely. I just cant believe how stupid he is
Terry(Quote)