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Nick Pope howler costs Newcastle dear and may give Eddie Howe a decision to make
This is a defeat that will hurt because it was entirely self-inflicted. A Nick Pope howler was the catalyst for a four-minute collapse as Newcastle United’s terrible away form continued against Marseille.
Newcastle were leading 1-0 at half-time in the south of France. They had wasted a string of opportunities to extend their lead, but at the start of the second half, they needed to keep it tight, weather the storm and trust in their ability to continue creating chances.
Instead, Marseille were level within 19 seconds of the restart and it was all down to Newcastle’s goalkeeper. There was no need for Pope to gallop out of his box to try and clear a through ball he was never going to get to.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had made a run in behind but was not running straight, moving away from danger and the faster defender, Malick Thiaw, was in pursuit. The German centre-back even gestured to his goalkeeper to stay put, that he had the situation under control, but Pope’s brain had frozen and the damage was already done.
With the Newcastle goalkeeper stuck in no man’s land, the veteran striker simply knocked it past him and curled a shot into the empty net.
It was terrible goalkeeping and it caused Newcastle to crumble. Marseille scored a second four minutes later, the 36-year-old Aubameyang reacting quickest to a low cross to steer home at the near post.
There had been mistakes in the first-half and Newcastle got away with them, but none were as bad as the one made by their goalkeeper.
Taken in isolation, goalkeeping errors can be brushed off as a peril of the job. Every goalkeeper makes them and when they do, goals tend to be the price they, and the team, pay.
Pope, though, is making them frequently; certainly far too regularly to be ignored. He is in danger of becoming a liability and that is the worst possible label you can attach to a goalkeeper.
They are supposed to be the last line of defence, the safety valve, the get-out-of-jail card. Pope is still making important saves – he has always been an excellent shot stopper – but in three out of four of Newcastle’s successive away defeats, Pope has hurt them.
He made a mistake when letting Lucas Paquetá’s long-range shot squeeze in against West Ham United, which handed their low-in-confidence opponents an equaliser. The fact that he had punched a ball he could easily have caught before letting it in made it even worse.
The England international also came for a cross he was never going to reach, leaving his net unguarded, which gifted Brentford an easy equaliser at the start of the second half as well.
Against Arsenal, it was Pope’s stupid throw that gave the league leaders possession in stoppage time. From the resulting corner, he once again came for a cross he had no chance of reaching and let in a last-minute winner.
With Aaron Ramsdale waiting in the wings, the calls for Eddie Howe to drop his error-prone goalkeeper are getting louder and increasingly angry.
“This defeat is particularly painful,” Howe said. “We had worked ourselves into a strong position and had played really well in the first half. Then 10 minutes at the start of the second cost us the game. It’s difficult to know, they scored so soon after half-time, a poor goal that has rocked us and we haven’t responded well.
“I’m concerned when we concede goals, no matter who is responsible. We have to look at things with a balanced head, Nick has saved us many times and made really good saves against Manchester City two days ago. That’s the life of a goalkeeper but I certainly still back him.”
Unfortunately, supporters are in danger of losing faith in the goalkeeper and their team whenever they leave St James’ Park. Just as they did in the recent league defeats against West Ham and Brentford, Newcastle took the lead and threw it away.
They were poor on the ball, failing to execute simple passes before allowing their scrambled minds to cause their downfall.
It was a case study in self-destruction and in keeping with so many others on the road this season. It is an itch Howe does not seem to be able to scratch.
Newcastle have won just once away from home this season, at Union SG, in the Champions League and are not going to change that unless they work out how to stop making basic errors.
Newcastle are a good side, they created enough chances not to lose against a dangerous Marseille team but were the architects of their own demise. They travel to Everton on Saturday and there will be little confidence things will get better. These problems have existed for months.
At least Howe’s side were a threat going forward and deserved the lead given to them by Harvey Barnes after just six minutes.
They should have extended that lead before the break, Anthony Gordon spurning two wonderful opportunities at the start and end of the half. Sandro Tonali and Joe Willock also shot tamely at the goalkeeper and Bruno Guimarães inexplicably overhit a through ball to Barnes, who would have been left with only the goalkeeper to beat.
In the second half, both Willock and Anthony Elanga were denied by good saves and Barnes went close again with a curling effort, but the damage had been done in a crazy four minutes. Once again, it was a losing position they could not recover from.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
