Taking a point from St. James’ Park in the 99th minute feels like a robbery, and we should be honest enough with ourselves to admit it.
If anyone is walking away from that 2-2 draw feeling content just because Dominik Szoboszlai held his nerve from 12 yards, they are ignoring glaring structural issues that have carried straight over from last season.
This was Andoni Iraola‘s first official match in charge and, while salvaging a draw shows fight, the overall performance was alarming in several key areas.
The Defensive Fragility
Our defensive transition remains completely open to being shredded by pace. Anthony Elanga’s opener inside five minutes was embarrassing. We had committed bodies forward, lost possession near their box, and one simple clearance had us scrambling.
Milos Kerkez was caught high up the pitch, Jeremy Jacquet looked visibly nervous on his debut, and Virgil van Dijk could not step across in time to prevent Elanga from slotting past Alisson Becker.
Even worse was how we reacted after getting back into the game. Cody Gakpo produced a brilliant strike from distance to level the score but, within barely two minutes, we threw that momentum straight in the bin.
Joe Willock was allowed to glide through midfield, evade Jeremie Frimpong, and pick his spot from the edge of the area. For all the talk of high-intensity pressing, we looked soft in the tackle and failed to commit the tactical foul when Newcastle broke out.
Attack Without Sharpness
Going forward, the void left by Mohamed Salah’s summer departure was impossible to ignore. Rio Ngumoha is a genuine talent, but expecting a 17-year-old to carry the creative burden down the right flank in a cauldron like St. James’ Park is unfair.
Florian Wirtz floated into good spaces between the lines, yet our final ball was consistently poor, lacking incision and ruthlessness.
The biggest disappointment was Alexander Isak. Given the hostility from the home crowd, he needed to make a statement to shut them up.
Instead, Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw bullied him out of the game. He looked isolated, hesitated when chances fell to him, and never imposed himself physically on the Magpies’ backline.
The Verdict
Victor Munoz provided a bright spark off the bench to win the late penalty, and Szoboszlai deserves credit for taking on the pressure with total composure.
A point away at Newcastle is not a disastrous result on paper, but the reality on the pitch was sobering.
If Iraola doesn’t sort out the defensive shape and address our vulnerability on the counter quickly, top-four contention will become an uphill battle very quickly.
