Louise Taylor was at St James’ Park tonight, and her verdict has landed. Get clicking, people. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Teemu Pukki’s thunderous volley rescued a point for Norwich against a Newcastle side reduced to ten men after just nine minutes
Updated
Tue 30 Nov 2021 16.59 EST
First published on Tue 30 Nov 2021 13.30 EST
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Key events
Eddie Howe speaks to Amazon. “We had a mountain to climb so early in the game. We were in a good frame of mind. But full credit to how the players responded. We defended well, I’m just sad we couldn’t get over the line. Our centre halves were magnificent, our midfield coped, and our centre forwards contributed to the effort. That’s a massive thing to take forward. If we deliver that mentality, we will win games. I can’t praise the players enough, they’ve had some hard knocks.”
Dean Smith talks to Amazon. “It’s the most disappointed I’ve been in the three games I’ve had. I didn’t want the player sent off, I wanted Teemu to go through and score. It was a questionable penalty, though we were too slow and a draw was the right result. Our goal was the first time we switched it from side to side; we didn’t do that enough. Our players are embracing the fact they’re Premier League players, they just needed a little bit of belief, and they’re unbeaten in four now.”
Newcastle’s captain for the evening, Callum Wilson, talks to Amazon. “It was difficult, frustrating. We knew how big the game was, and 11 against 11 we’d win that. But we’re not going to dig out Ciaran, we’re all together, we’re a team. We limited them to limited chances. We kept the door shut until the end, it was a great shot by the guy, but you can’t feel sorry for yourself. We stayed compact, everyone was disciplined, and everyone ran themselves into the ground.”
Newcastle remain the only team in the top four divisions in England without a win. Here’s the bottom of the Premier League table as it stands, with Leeds currently drawing 0-0 with Crystal Palace at Elland Road.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Watford | 13 | -6 | 13 |
| 17 | Leeds | 14 | -8 | 13 |
| 18 | Norwich | 14 | -20 | 10 |
| 19 | Burnley | 12 | -6 | 9 |
| 20 | Newcastle | 14 | -14 | 7 |
FULL TIME: Newcastle United 1-1 Norwich City
It’s all over. A better result for Norwich than Newcastle, though the hosts would have surely taken a point after going down to ten men after just nine minutes ... and when Lees-Melou was one on one with Dubravka in injury time, come to think about it.
90 min +6: Newcastle can’t clear Gilmour’s free kick. The ball drops to Rupp, who hits a screamer goalwards ... but the box is crowded and the shot pinballs back to Lees-Melou, whose attempted curler is weak and easily dealt with.
90 min +5: Newcastle are hanging on here. Rupp probes down the right and is clumsily upended by Hayden. A chance for Gilmour to loop the free kick into the mixer.
90 min +4: Nothing comes from the resulting corner. What a chance that was for Norwich to claim all three points.
90 min +3: Lees-Melou robs Schar down the Norwich left. He enters the area, reaches the edge of the six-yard box, opens his body, and looks to sidefoot across Dubravka and into the bottom right. The keeper sticks out a leg to deflect over the bar. What a save! Especially as Pukki was free in the middle, screaming to be set up for the tap-in.
90 min +2: Pukki is given too much space to turn and size up a shot from 20 yards. Fernandez reacts and blocks, just in time. Norwich come again, but Giannoulis sails a dismal forward pass into the hands of Dubravka.
90 min: Joelinton has a crack from distance. The ball sails harmlessly into the Gallowgate. There will be six extra minutes.
88 min: Idah is found alone in the Newcastle box by Hanley’s raking pass. He takes a touch before larruping a fierce shot over the bar. The flag goes up for offside anyway, but Toon hearts were in mouths there for a second.
87 min: Shelvey is good to go again, and so play restarts. The tension is palpable. Nobody wants to concede a sickener.
86 min: Shelvey needs a bit of attention. A pause in play.
85 min: The corner is a waste of time, the whistle peeping for a garden-variety free kick to Newcastle in the middle of a crowded box.
84 min: Aarons crosses from the right. Schar, under pressure from the lurking Idah, is forced to head behind for a corner.
83 min: It’s all Norwich now, in terms of possession at least. They’re not doing a lot in the final third, the electric rush of the equaliser having quickly died down.
81 min: Suddenly there’s a spring in Norwich’s step. McLean pearls a long pass down the inside right. Pukki tries another volley, but this one is sliced way wide.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-1 Norwich City (Pukki 79)
Gilmour crosses from the right. Dubravka comes out to punch clear. The ball drops to Giannoulis, just inside the box on the left. He cushions a gentle pass back inside for Pukki, who tells everyone to get out of his way, and lashes an unstoppable left-foot volley into the top left from 12 yards. What a finish!
77 min: Almiron comes on for Saint-Maximin, as Newcastle look to lock down these precious three points.
76 min: Giannoulis curls in from the left. Idah tries to steer home from six yards, but Fernandez gets in ahead of him. The ball clanks off the defender’s arm and out for a corner ... but Newcastle get the free kick instead, the flag going up for offside.
74 min: Wilson, in a tight spot near the right-hand corner flag, tries to win a corner off Giannoulis. The ball misses the Norwich player and sails along the byline towards Hayden, who tries to steer a shot goalwards from the tightest of angles at the near post. The ball flashes across the face of goal and away from danger. Krul wasn’t too sure of himself there, and Norwich get away with it.
73 min: Willock is replaced by the more defensively minded Hayden, while Norwich swap Williams for Giannoulis.
72 min: Idah bustles his way across the front of the Newcastle box, left to right. His shot balloons off Shelvey’s toe and nearly loops into the top right. Just over ... but the referee hasn’t spotted the deflection and he’s not even getting the corner.
71 min: A little better from Norwich as Aarons and Gilmour combine down the right, opening up a little space. But the final ball by Gilmour is no good.
69 min: Norwich have achieved the square root of nothing since going behind. One goal seems beyond them right now. Two would be way too much to ask for, and they nearly ship another as Saint-Maximin goes on an exploratory run down the right wing and bangs a rising shot towards the top right. Off target, but not a million miles away.
67 min: Sargent is replaced by Idah. A midfielder for a striker.
66 min: Williams glides in from the left and rolls a ball infield to tee up Rupp. The referee gets in the way of Rupp’s run, blocking him off, much to the anger of Williams and the entertainment of the home crowd. That would have been a fine shooting chance otherwise.
65 min: Williams tries to jink past Joelinton down the left, but can’t get around his man and eventually drags him down in frustration. Again, the pressure on Newcastle is both brief and ultimately released by an unforced error.
63 min: Norwich fling a few men forward in the hope of instant salvation. But it’s all a bit ponderous and eventually the ball sails out for a goal kick. Norwich have been very poor in attack against ten men.
GOAL! Newcastle United 1-0 Norwich City (Wilson 61 pen)
Wilson slots ... but only just! He batters a low shot towards the bottom right. It’s not in the corner. Krul dives the right way and gets a strong hand to the penalty. The ball pings upwards, off the underside of the bar, and down into the net. St James’ Park explodes in joy!
Penalty for Newcastle!
59 min: Yep! Gilmour is found guilty and Wilson will have a chance to blast ten-man Toon ahead from the spot!
58 min: VAR is giving this a good long look. The referee is invited to take a look for himself on the pitchside monitor. A guilty look spreads across Gilmour’s face.
57 min: Fernandez meets the corner and heads goalwards. The ball twangs off Gilmour’s upraised arm. There’s not a great distance between the players, but it still might be enough for this to be given. Newcastle surround the referee. VAR gets involved.
56 min: Saint-Maximin busies himself down the right and earns a corner. A rare chance for Newcastle to cause Norwich some trouble.
54 min: Norwich break immediately, with Newcastle howling for their spot kick. Sargent drives down the left and should send Pukki clear down the middle, but delays and delays, and eventually blazes a strange cross into his team-mate’s chest at uncontrollable speed. Dubravka claims.
53 min: It is now bucketing it down in Newcastle. Williams slips, allowing Joelinton to run into the box down the right. He enters the area and leaps over the extended leg of Rupp. There’s some contact, but Rupp gets a little of the ball too, so neither referee nor VAR are interested.
51 min: Williams is again in a promising amount of space on the left. Hanley, under no pressure whatsoever, batters a hopeless pass miles over his head and into the crowd. Williams boils over, giving his team-mate a much-deserved long-distance bollocking.
49 min: Gilmour dribbles in from the right. He’s got Williams free in acres on the left, but doesn’t spot him. “I wonder what Amazon’s return policy is for football teams?” asks James Maslen.
47 min: Norwich have obviously been told to step it up a bit, and have come flying out of the blocks, their passing immediately crisper, their runs more urgent.
Newcastle get the second half underway. Norwich have made a change, swapping Tzolis for Lees-Melou.
Half-time entertainment ... seeing we were talking about cutting-edge modernist design ...
HALF TIME: Newcastle United 0-0 Norwich City
Who will be the happier less unhappy of the two teams? It’s difficult to say.
45 min +1: Tzolis finally warms Dubravka’s hands, taking up possession just inside the Newcastle box and creaming a shot towards the bottom left. Easy enough for the keeper, but work is work.
45 min: A long pass down the right nearly releases Saint-Maximin. Gibson, fearing a footrace against the speedy Saint-Maximin, gets his body in the road and draws a clumsy barge. That’s some good old-school defending. There will be two added minutes.
43 min: McLean cuts in from the right and tries a shot from 25 yards. Miles wide left and nearly as high. Like Krul up the other end, Dubravka hasn’t had anything to do either.
42 min: All a bit scrappy now, which will suit Newcastle given their depleted status.
40 min: Williams belts a long pass down the middle. Pukki gives chase. Dubravka comes out of his box to blooter clear. The flag then goes up for offside, though had Pukki reached the ball first and converted, VAR might have had something to say about that flag.
38 min: Tzolis takes a whack from distance. His shot is deflected out for a corner on the right. The corner’s hit long. Tzolis picks up possession again, then dinks an aimless cross out for a goal kick.
36 min: Manquillo clatters into Williams, who had been probing down the left only to turn tail. A needless challenge that gifts a free kick. Nothing comes of the set piece, but it’s another act of ill-disciplined daftness by a Newcastle defender.
35 min: Krul still hasn’t had anything to do, but he should have been worked here, as Willock works his way down the left and pulls back for Wilson, who leans back and hoicks over from 12 yards. That’s got the crowd going again, at least.