Eddie Howe & Anthony Gordon disagree over 'irrelevant' Newcastle United warning sign ahead of Sunderland
Anthony Gordon scored his seventh goal of the season for Newcastle United in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Anthony Gordon has asked questions of Newcastle United’s defence after the side conceded another late goal at Bayer Leverkusen.
The Magpies were trailing 1-0 to a Bruno Guimaraes own goal before Gordon equalised from the penalty spot in the second half. The England international then turned provider as his cross set up Lewis Miley to head home his first Champions League goal.
Then in the 88th minute, Leverkusen grabbed a late equaliser through Alejandro Grimaldo. It’s the third successive match Newcastle have conceded in the final few minutes while Leverkusen’s opener marked the third straight game in which Newcastle conceded a goal from a set-piece scenario.
Anthony Gordon expresses Newcastle United frustration
Speaking to TNT Sports following his Player of the Match performance, Gordon didn’t hide his frustration.
“It's happening too many times, to be honest,” Gordon said regarding the late goals conceded.
"The first half an hour was really poor, but we reacted well and we came out well in the second half. The manager gave us a kick up the backside and we reacted well.
"Defensively we need to be more tight because we are conceding too many goals late in games. I don't know if that is fatigue, but it all comes back to mentality. We have to hold out in these games because that is what top teams do."
Newcastle have conceded
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‘Irrelevant’ - Eddie Howe dismisses Newcastle United concern
While Gordon highlighted the timing of Newcastle’s goals conceded, head coach Eddie Howe was more dismissive of that particular criticism of his side and instead focused on the manner in which they were conceded rather than the minute.
“Rather than focus on the lateness of the goal, it's more the way we're conceiving currently,” Howe said. “The timing, for me, is irrelevant.
“The first goal in particular, to be honest, that's the one that really gets me, because we worked a lot on set plays in between the last game and we didn't defend it well enough.
“Gave ourselves a mountain to climb, and I thought the lads did really well to respond to that. But we've done the hard work, we're in front, and then there are cases we have to defend well, and we didn't for that moment.”
11 of Newcastle’s 26 goals conceded (~42%) have come in the final 15 minutes of matches this season, with six of those (~23%) coming after 90 minutes.
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Can Newcastle United fix their problems?
The trend of late goals and set-piece goals conceded is a worrying one for Newcastle heading into Sunday’s derby match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Regis Le Bris’ side have been particularly strong in the Premier League this season when it comes to scoring late on and posing a threat from set-pieces - something that Newcastle are particularly weak at.
Newcastle have changed their training schedule this week in preparation for the derby match with the side training the day after Leverkusen on Thursday before returning to training on Saturday ahead of the match.
Despite the slight change of schedule, Howe admitted there would be no quick fix for Newcastle’s issues.
“I'm not sure if you're going to address that in a couple of days,” Howe said. “I think it's consistent practice. It's consistent messaging. It's consistent work.
“So, we have some really good players who have done very well in that respect in terms of defending set-plays and having a really strong mentality.