Wins must come soon or United risk being cut adrift
MAGPIES NEED TO FIND THEIR RUTHLESS STREAK - THEY MUST START PICKING UP THREE POINTS
NEWCASTLE United held on at Selhurst Park to secure a point with a 1-1 draw against relegation rivals Crystal Palace.
Mo Diame put the Magpies ahead from a Kenedy corner during an encouraging first-half display, but United fell apart after the break.
Ciaran Clark conceded a soft penalty for a shirt pull on Christian Benteke and Luka Milivojevic duly converted the rebound.
Palace then bombarded the Newcastle area during the second period - but United held on to leave south London with what could prove to be a crucial point come the end of the season. Here is what NUFC writer Chris
Waugh learned from this draw at Selhurst Park...
1. United lack a focal point - and Islam Slimani needs to be the man to provide it
As Newcastle fans waited to learn of the teamsheet, they were hoping Islam Slimani would be fit enough at the very least to take his place among the substitutes.
However, the Algerian suffered a thigh injury during his final days at Leicester City and the deadlineday loan signing failed a fitness test on Saturday.
Interestingly, Joselu - who missed a penalty plus two other gilt-edged chances during the 1-1 draw with Burnley on Wednesday - also missed out, with the Spaniard not even named in the squad, purportedly due to a “slight virus.”
Instead, Dwight Gayle was given the opportunity to lead the line against a club where he scored 25 goals in 74 appearances across three seasons.
Gayle was United’s top scorer last season with 23 goals in the Championship but, with just three Premier League strikes this term, clearly the 27-year-old realises he must start finding the back of the net far more frequently if he is to keep new arrival Slimani out of the side.
Unfortunately, a goal did not arrive for the United striker at his former stomping ground.
In fact, one tame effort early on aside, he barely managed a shot.
United were guilty of squandering first-half opportunities - but rarely was it Gayle on the end of them.
It very much looks like Slimani, as soon as he is fit, will be brought into the side to offer a muchneeded focal point.
2. Jekyll-and-Hyde Karl Darlow may find himself out of the side after this
Benitez stressed during his prematch press conference on Friday Martin Dubravka had been recruited from Sparta Prague to compete for the No 1 spot at Newcastle.
So it was therefore no surprise to see the Slovakia international immediately brought into the matchday squad for the trip to Palace.
Rob Elliot tweeted before the game to confirm he had now recovered from a slight back injury, yet the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper was not named in the United 18.
Instead, Karl Darlow continued between the sticks - just four days after being unfortunate to score an own goal against Burnley - and Dubravka assumed a place on the bench.
Within nine minutes Darlow had already produced a very important save to deny Christian Benteke, who had been played clean through on goal.
It is also an almost inconceivable eight games without a league win at St James’ Park for United
The 27-year-old then went on to offer up a contender for save of the season. Wilfried Zaha jinked one way and then the other in the box before firing a low shot from 15 yards through a crowded penalty area.
It took a wicked deflection and Darlow, who had already set himself, reacted quickly to fling out a hand and force the ball on to Benteke’s knee, who could only divert the ball on to the post.
After the break, however, Darlow’s performance - like that of Newcastle went to pieces in parts.
First he could only tip Milivojevic’s spot kick on to the post when he got a hand to it before he started rushing out for crosses and finding himself lost in No Man’s Land.
His kicking also put Newcastle into trouble on several occasions as Palace simply bombarded the United box during the second period.
On the evidence of this Jekyll-and-Hyde performance, Dubravka may well find himself handed a debut next weekend, after all... 3. Diame is now a crucial cog in this United side
Over the course of the last six weeks, Diame has been Newcastle’s most-consistent performer alongside the ever-dependable Paul Dummett. This goal was just reward for the Senegalese midfielder’s displays. Playing alongside Jonjo Shelvey in the United engine room, Diame was a bundle of energy as always - but he also added a deft touch to his power, with some lovely cross-field passes to spread play and stretch the Palace defence during the first half. As well as being the destructive force everyone knows he is, Diame also provided the opener with what very much appeared to be a set-piece routine forged on the training ground. Kenedy swung a low cross towards Ayoze Perez at the front post, the Spaniard missed the ball and it then made its way through a crowded area to find a late-arriving Diame at the back post. He provided a calm finish to tap into an empty net and then ran off in celebration. Since he scored against former club West Ham United on December 23, Diame has been a player reborn - and long may his excellent form continue. During the second half, once Diame was withdrawn, Newcastle’s midfield became overrun. That shows just how important he has become to this Magpies side in recent weeks.
4. Kenedy needs to gain full match fitness - and quickly
Kenedy really is a pleasure to watch live. It was as if he merely picked up at Selhurst Park where he left off after his very promising debut against Burnley in midweek. A player blessed with pace, power and invention, the Brazilian was the Newcastle player who, every time he got the ball, looked like he was going to make something happen during the first half. Neither Martin Kelly nor Timothy Fosu-Mensah could deal with him when he ran directly at them. His trickery also bamboozled fullback Kelly on at least three occasions. At one stage, after Kenedy’s cutback had taken Kelly out of the game and he curled a right-footed effort at goal, the 21-year-old should have scored. However, he was denied by a wonderful save from Wayne Hennessey. He was also guilty of butchering an excellent counter-attack opportunity early in the second half, Kenedy delaying feeding Ayoze Perez on the overlap until the Spaniard had strayed into an offside position.
However, again it was Kenedy’s set-piece delivery which provided a goal and the Brazilian definitely offers something different to this Newcastle side which they were severely lacking before.
He was hooked early in the second half, clearly struggling physically given he has played twice in four days after so long without much first-team football.
Yet once he went off, Newcastle lacked an out ball - and it was no coincidence that at that stage Newcastle’s attacking threat dwindled to nothingness.
5. United need to find their ruthless streak - they simply must start winning games
It is now just one defeat in half a dozen league games for Newcastle and that came against runaway leaders Manchester City.
However, it is also only one victory during that time.
From a possible 18 points, Newcastle have collected just seven.
It is also an almost-inconceivable eight games without a league win at St James’ Park and at some stage Newcastle simply must start picking up three points from matches rather than just one.
Just seven points separate 10 teams from 11th down to 20th but United’s rivals are winning games.
It is high time Newcastle start doing so too - or they risk being cut adrift.
This may prove to be a precious point come the end of the season but wins must arrive sooner rather than later.