Newcastle United secured a last 16 spot in the Champions League on Tuesday night by beating Qarabag 3-2 (9-3 on aggregate). In a fairly lowkey affair, United stormed into a 2-0 lead before we appeared to take our foots off the proverbial gas.
United needed a slight rally after Qarabag scored early in the second half but ultimately, we saw the game out comfortably. Newcastle’s goals came via Tonali, Joelinton and Botman, and Qarabag’s came via Durán and Cəfərquliyev.
Here are my two good and two bad from the game:
Good: A fast start and superb Sandro
United had ultimately killed the tie in the first leg by going into the game 6-1 up and a mere six minutes into this game, having scored two and being 8-1 up on aggregate, the tie was completely and utterly lifeless.
We were cutting into Qarabag at will and probably should’ve scored more than two during that period, with Jacob Murphy missing an absolute sitter after he was set up beautifully by Nick Woltemade.
It was job done after those opening exchanges, which probably contributes to some of my upcoming points, and made some of the decisions the management team made all the stranger as the game went on.
Add in to the mix the huge drop off that saw Qarabag score two, and consistently skin Burn and Botman for pace in a disjointed second half display, and it contributed to some eerily surreal moments over the 90 minutes.
That said, Sandro Tonali was superb. His third goal in as many starts, relentless off the ball and leading by example when others slacked off. He’s really stepping up in Bruno’s absence and can hopefully keep this going ahead of four more vital home games ahead.
Bad: Taking our foot off the gas, getting sloppy and peculiar subs
Despite United having 2.78 xG, 19 shots (eight on target), 36 touches in the opposition penalty area, and generally dominating the game statistically, there’s no denying that after the frantic opening exchanges, United appeared to take their foot off the gas and got sloppy with our defending, often opening ourselves up to counter attacks in the second half as Burn and Botman both struggled to play on the right side of the defence as left footed CB’s.
Hopefully the instructions from the bench were to conserve energy with such a huge game coming up in the Premier League this weekend because if there wasn’t, some of the play the lads offered up was some of the most disjointed we have seen this season.
However, if those instructions were given, why on Earth did Gordon, Hall and Willock come on and risk injury in an ultimately meaningless game? It seemed like a crazy decision in the mixt of a punishing run of fixtures that we really must do well in as we have so much ground to make up in the league.
Good: A preferrable draw and youngsters FINALLY get a chance
Make no bones about it, despite some strange play and decisions, United earned this opportunity to sail into the last 16 by being as good as we were during the league phase. Some may argue that we deserved to go through automatically, but when you are served up such a winnable tie in a playoff round you cannot do much more than win 9-3.
Eddie Howe FINALLY dipped into the youngsters that have been in and around the squad for weeks, with Alex Murphy playing the whole game in two positions, Osula ran around (but he was almost entirely blunt up front) and Leo Shahar finally made his debut as a late sub, and he looked composed with the few touches he had.
Bad: Patronising olé’s
Feel free to call me a wet wipe, but when our crowd started ole-ing the Qarabag players in the first half when they were 8-1 down on aggregate, I was disgusted. It was crass, mocking and completely unnecessary.
Qarabag had earned the right to play us in this tie with their performances in the league phase, they are operating with a budget less than a tenth of a size of ours, and they caused us a lot of issues on the night.
Reminding people where we have come from has become a dirty phrase in some sections of the fanbase, but it was worth remembering on the evening, as mockingly ole-ing Qarabag was a moment that is usually associated with more entitled fanbases, and we don’t want to become one of those.
Perhaps ticket prices contributed to that with some wanting some form of entertainment returned for paying those prices, but there were other moments (crying shoot when Qarabag players are taking a pot shot on goal, clapping their subs etc.) which were unbecoming and we have to show respect for every side we play, no matter the quality.
Everton next. It’s a huge game but with just eleven games left in the Premier League and loads of points to try and make up, they all are at this stage of the season.f
Keep the faith. HWTL
Make no mistake Everton will be a lot tougher, and they beat us at home last season and almost cost us a place in the Champions League.
Joseph(Quote)
Fully agree with the comment regarding the Ole’ chanting.
It was embarrassing and unnecessary.
Drewby(Quote)
Thanks for the great write up.
Also completely agree with calling out Oles.
It was pleasing to hear the support from the crowd for Sahar for every touch he had.
Howe the toon(Quote)