Five minutes of madness in the second half against Marseille cost us dearly on Tuesday night, seeing us blow a 1-0 lead once again. .
Nick Pope’s calamitous goalkeeping performance, coupled with some sleepwalking defending, gifted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a rapid fire brace and dealt us a fourth away defeat in a row in all competitions.
It’s a result that has left a bitter taste in the mouth, and one that could prove to be very important in determining who finishes where in the league phase of this season’s Champions League.
And although upset and frustrated by the result, club captain Bruno Guimaraes has called upon his teammates to avoid making the same sloppy mistakes in the future, and end our torrid away form against Everton on Saturday.
Speaking to BBC Newcastle after Tuesday night’s game, the captain seemed lost for words over just how we let the lead slip in the south of France.
“Unbelievable. 5-10 minutes cost us the game. We started the game so well. Strong, kept the ball, aggressive. And then the second half, we weren’t on the pitch for 5-10 minutes and they got two goals. Shocking. Sloppy with the ball, without the ball, I’m very sad for today.”
“I think we were in a great position in the first half, playing well. But in games like today, it’s tough to accept defeat. I think we cannot explain. Just slop, I don’t know what happened. We spoke in the changing room to start the second half like we did in the first half but this did not happen and it cost us the game.”
“We have to learn. Sad, sad day. Very disappointed but we have to keep going.”
A mix of saddened and angered by the result, Bruno has rather brutally called out the whole team’s performance in the early stages of the second half, bemoaning the fact we’ve let another lead slip through our fingers this month.
“Today I don’t think was that bad to be honest. I think the first half we had the chance to make it 2-0, and that second half 5-10 minutes cost us the game. I think we were too slow, but I don’t know what happened and we cannot accept this. We have to play better, especially when we’re winning.”
“I think it’s three games in a row now, we start to win and we lost the game. We have to work hard and make things right in the changing room because this cannot happen.”
Much like Eddie Howe, Bruno has leapt to the defence of Nick Pope following on from the defeat. Despite acknowledging that the veteran keeper made such a monumental error, it’s right of Bruno not to publicly call out his teammate’s display.
“Popey already saved us many, many times. This has happened to me, it has happened to him, we have to keep on going, we cannot blame one player.”
“I think the whole team was sleeping in the second half, and it’s not about one player but the whole team. We cannot concede the goals that we did today.”
All eyes are now on Saturday evening’s trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, where we have yet another tough away game against Everton. We failed to beat the Toffees in either league game last season, and they’re coming off the back of a big win on Monday against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
“If we scored to make it 2-0, I don’t think we would have lost the game. But the way we started the second half was very disappointing for me, and I’m very sad for the way we started the game: it was a great team atmosphere, the fans were there supporting us, so it’s a tough one to accept.”
“But like I said, we have the opportunity on Saturday to improve our away performance in the Premier League.”
Add Comment