Eddie Howe has expressed his frustration over today’s draw with Brighton and Hove Albion, believing his Newcastle side were the better team on the afternoon.
A Yankuba Minteh opener for the hosts was followed by two disallowed penalties for us, before Alexander Isak finally converted from the spot to make it 1-1.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say on a day where three points were needed, but one point wasn’t disastrous.
In spite of some defensive lapses, particularly for Brighton’s opener, few fans would argue that we weren’t the better team at the AMEX, and should have come away with more than a point.
A sentiment shared by Howe: “It’s probably a good point for us, even though we came here to win. Our final pass and cross probably wasn’t at its finest level.”
“We were very disappointed with how we conceded. We did enough to warrant a point, if not more. I thought we were the team trying to win the game.”
“We are a team that sets up to win. We want to win games. But if you can’t make sure you don’t lose. I thought we were the better team in both halves.”
“I thought we were the better team today without being at our absolute best.”
With more shots and possession than the hosts at a notorious bogey ground for us, our performance today certainly warranted more than a single point, even if Howe believes we weren’t quite at our best.
“I thought we had pretty much control of the game for the majority without being our free flowing creative best around their box.
“I thought we had a lot of ball, a lot of half chances. Probably the final, final part was missing in our game, but tactically very good.”
But it still took a late penalty converted by Isak to help us leave the South Coast with something, a vital point in the race for Champions League qualification.
“We needed something to fall for us, and it’s come through a penalty today. Obviously quite a bit to speak about in that respect, but Alex put it away well.”
“But there were other moments we were disappointed we didn’t make more of.”
“Substitutes were good, made a big difference, and overall I think we can be pretty pleased.”
“Yeah, firstly, they’re good players, that makes a big difference, but also they’ve got to come on with the right attitude and deliver what we needed them to do.”
“And I thought Anthony, Callum, and the two guys at the end, Sven and Emil, all added to our performance. That’s what you’re looking for, it’s really a squad game.”
With the collective presence of Gordon, Wilson, Isak and Barnes in the second half, Howe experimented with playing two strikers at once in pushing for the equaliser.
“With around 20 minutes to go, we wanted to try and get two strikers on the pitch, and hope that the weight of the attacking players would fall in our favour.”
“There’s a slight risk when you do that as you might lose control in midfield, and maybe for five minutes we did, but then we wrestled that back and finished the game strongly.”
In the second half we saw both Gordon and Willock (correctly) denied fouls due to VAR intervention, but the amount of time it took to act proved detrimental to our momentum, resulting in nine minutes of added time coming at the end of the game.”
“I think that is what VAR is there for, so if Anthony’s is outside the box, that’s the right decision. If Joe’s not touched by Van Hecke, that’s the right decision.”
“I’ve got no issue with those two calls if that’s the case. The third one for me was a stonewall penalty the minute I saw it. I’m pleased that the right decision was made.”
Having not been told what the team in Stockley Park were looking for, Howe provided some insight into the process for managers.
“You might get a ‘Well they’re talking and discussing’, that kind of feedback but not directly what they’re looking at. You just have to try and guess yourself.”
Today’s point keeps us in 4th place in the table, just behind Manchester City, but clear of both Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
We still control our own destiny in regards to Champions League qualification, but our game at home against Chelsea just got even more important, as one would fancy the winner of that game to qualify for the UCL at the other team’s expense.
The boss backs us to deliver next Sunday however: “It’s all to play for. We have three huge games, three very tough games in different ways. Two of them are at home and we hope that can make the difference.”
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