MAGS’ CHARACTER A BIG BOOST FOR BENITEZ
NORWICH CITY 2 NEWCASTLE UTD 2: LASCELLES SAVES THE DAY AS TYNESIDERS STAY TOP
Rafa Benitez hailed the character of his Newcastle United players after they fought back to claimed a Championship point at Carrow Road last night.
A late goal from captain Jamaal Lascelles rescued a 2-2 draw against Norwich, maintaining a one-point lead at the top from Brighton, who were held 1-1 by Ipswich.
Lascelles had been involved in the incidents that led to Norwich’s two goals, and boss Benitez revealed the defender’s determination to atone for the errors.
“It’s always important for the team to recover, but when a player knows he has been involved in a mistake, it is even more important for him that he can score,” said Benitez. “He equalised the game, and the goal came at an important time.
“We were on top of them, we scored, and then we had a couple of chances to win. It was a pity they didn’t go in.”
Ayoze Perez put Newcastle into the lead after just 23 seconds. Static Norwich defending allowed Jack Colback to pick out Perez just inside the box and the Spaniard produced a cool low finish to beat John Ruddy.
It should have been 2-0 in the fifth minute when a slip from Russell Martin let Aleksandar Mitrovic race clean through, but Ruddy did well to block the shot.
More poor defending played a major part in Norwich getting level.
Lascelles was caught in possession by Cameron Jerome when he should have cleared his lines and the striker coolly squared for Jacob Murphy to side-foot into an unguarded net from point-blank range.
If that was bad from Newcastle then what followed after 17 minutes was a whole lot worse. Keeper Karl Darlow was under little pressure as he stepped out to make a routine clearance, but he sliced the ball horribly and Jerome found himself completely in the clear with the ball at his feet. He even had time to celebrate before tapping into theemptynet.
Newcastle, however, were much better after the break, when Norwich retreated into their own half. The Magpies finally levelled when Norwich failed to deal with an inswinging free-kick from Jonjo Shelvey. The ball finally found its way to Perez, who crossed for Lascelles to volley home at the far post.
Shelvey almost bundled home a late winner, while Ruddy denied first Perez and then Shelvey in injury-time.
Benitez was heartened by the reaction of his players, saying: “The reaction and the character of the players was the most positive thing to come out of the game.
“Football is a sport where anything can happen, and that is why so many people love football.
“You can win a game 1-0 with one chance, but you can have 20 chances, make a couple of mistakes and lose. In this case, the players didn’t wanttoloseandtheirreaction was excellent.
“The way they responded to going behind was really positive, and to show this character is important.
“We were away, playing against a good team, but we reacted well and I’m sure the away fans were enjoying the character, passion and commitment of these players.”
Newcastle next host Aston Villa, eight matches without a win, on Monday.