Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TOON HIT BY PUKKI BLINDER!
Red card and late leveller piles on the misery for new boss Howe
IT’S 14 Premier League games now without a win for Newcastle - yet manager Eddie Howe was a relieved man last night.
No side in Premier League history has stayed up without a win in 14, but Toon, down to 10 men for 80 minutes, showed enough fight to suggest they can get out of the mire.
It’s more than six months, a total of 191 days, since Newcastle last tasted victory. But this must have felt like a semi-victory given the odds were so heavily stacked against them after Ciaran Clark’s early red card.
A superb late volley from Teemu Pukki (right) denied Howe’s men all three points but they’ll fancy their chances of getting their first win this weekend against Burnley
Howe saw a brave, spirited and organised performance from his troops until the usual defensive cock-up ruined the night.
Callum Wilson, skipper for the night, put the Toon ahead from the penalty spot in the 61st minute after Billy Gilmour was penalised, following VAR intervention, for hand-ball in the box. Wilson’s rightfoot shot (top) was not convincing and Norwich keeper Tim Krul got a firm hand to it, but he could only push it onto the bar and it bounced in.
The goal roused home fans who had feared the worst when Clark was sent off. A poor touch in the ninth minute allowed Pukki to race clear. A cooler head may have allowed the Norwich hitman a clear run – he still had work to do to beat Martin Dubravka – but Clark had a rush of blood to the head and hauled back the Finn. A red card was inevitable.
The Toon Army raised the noise in the second half in defiance at the dire situation Newcastle were facing. Only a win here would do at the start of a pivotal week.
It was on the cards when Jonjo Shelvey, who has become a tenacious enforcer under Howe, swung in a corner that Federico Fernandez nodded goalward. Gilmour, jumping in the six-yard box, blocked the header with an outstretched hand and, after a pitchside review, ref Andy Madley gave the spot-kick.
Wilson’s goal got a rapturous reception from win-starved Toon fans. Suddenly, an unlikely victory was on the cards against a Norwich side revitalised by Dean Smith.
But it wasn’t to be. Once again, like every game this campaign, Newcastle failed to keep a clean sheet.
Dubravka flapped at a cross, pushing it out to Dimitris Giannoulis. He crossed to the back post to Pukki, who unleashed a firsttime volley that flew into the net.
And it could have been even worse for Toon. Pierre Lees-melou raced down the Norwich left in the closing minutes and cut in on goal. A winner looked certain but Dubravka made amends for his earlier mistake by blocking with a foot.
It is 55 days since the Saudi-funded consortium took charge of Newcastle and, apart from the night the deal was done amid street celebrations at St James’ Park, every relaunch has fallen flat. Whatever they try, they just can’t get that elusive first win.
But though on paper a draw at home to Norwich looks an opportunity wasted, Howe (right) will heartened by the fight his brave 10 men showed.
Whisper it quietly, but they are not doomed yet.