Newcastle United striker’s frustration, Jason Tindall's gesture and huge crowd – moments missed

Several players missing

Newcastle had a few key first team players conspicuously missing from the matchday squad at Estadio da Luz.

Martin Dubravka’s absence was down to a wrist injury which isn’t believed to be serious. Karl Darlow came into the side in place of the Slovakian.

Ryan Fraser also missed the match with a ‘family issue’ while Paul Dummett also sat the game out.

Federico Fernandez and Jamal Lewis haven’t played a minute in pre-season so far as they continue to work their way back to full fitness.

Meanwhile, Javier Manquillo is yet to train with the first team this pre-season as he has been out in Spain receiving specialist treatment. He is expected to join up with the side this week.

Benfica’s live mascot

Anyone who has watched Benfica previously may have noticed an eagle flying around the stadium prior to kick-off with red and white ribbons.

This is Benfica’s club mascot Aguia Vitoria, who flies around Estadio da Luz ahead of every As Aguias (The Eagles) home match before landing on top of the club crest to complete it.

Benfica aren’t the only club to have used a live eagle as a mascot. Premier League side Crystal Palace had Kayla the eagle prior to her passing in 2020, Lazio have also done something similar with the bird.

All three clubs have a nickname that translates to ‘The Eagles’.

Callum Wilson’s frustration with Almiron

Miguel Almiron has been on fire for Newcastle so far in pre-season with four goals already heading into Tuesday night’s match.

And with just three minutes on the clock, Bruno Guimaraes played a cutting pass through to Almiron who opted to stroke the ball gently wide of the left hand post.

While the Paraguayan had every right to go for goal, Newcastle No. 9 Callum Wilson was standing a few yards to the left with the goal gaping. Squaring the ball would have probably guaranteed United taking an early lead.

Although it’s just a friendly, Wilson is a goalscorer and was visibly frustrated that Almiron opted to go for goal instead of passing to him as the ball just eluded the striker as it rolled wide.

Benfica took the lead just over 10 minutes later as Goncalo Ramos headed the ball in from Joao Mario’s corner.

But Almiron remained full of confidence as he charged forward with the ball before playing a well weighted ball out wide to Kieran Trippier, who returned the favour with a delicate cross for the Newcastle No. 24 to equalise with a first-time right-footed finish.

Alex Grimaldo then restored the hosts’ advantage with a fine 25-yard free-kick into the top right corner of the goal.

Almiron and Trippier combined well again down the right side as the England international set-up the 28-year-old for a finessed finish into the bottom left corner to make it 2-2 on the stroke of half-time.

Jonjo Shelvey’s injury

Anyone watching the match will have noticed Jonjo Shelvey in some discomfort as he hobbled off the pitch with 15 minutes left to play to be replaced by Matty Longstaff.

Frustratingly, the midfielder was arguably enjoying his best pre-season outing so far as he helped Newcastle control the midfield in the second half after being overrun in the first.

But now Shelvey is a doubt for the start of the Premier League season on August 6 with Howe confirming that the player sustained a hamstring injury.

He will continue to be assessed upon returning to England but Howe said after the match: “Really disappointing, he’s worked so hard to keep himself fit and be in a good place physically.

"Any injury would be a blow to him and for us, so fingers crossed it’s not bad.”

Jason Tindall’s reaction to Joelinton’s red card

Tuesday night’s match was a fiery affair on the pitch as several players were cautioned by referee Nuno Almeida, including Guimaraes and Dan Burn.

And as the game was drawing to a close, Joelinton was shown two yellow cards in quick succession. The second challenge saw the Brazilian foul Benfica’s Florentino with a high foot above the player’s ankle.

The late challenge saw the referee quickly brandish a second yellow to dismiss the Newcastle midfielder.

This sparked a confrontation between the two benches on the sidelines as tempers flared.

And as Joelinton left the pitch, Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall came over to him in what appeared to be a gesture of reassurance.

Tindall shook his finger at Joelinton as if to say ‘don’t worry’ before demonstrating his frustration towards the match officials' decision.

Benfica’s late joy

Now a man down, Newcastle tried to hold on for the final nine minutes of the match to force a penalty shoot out.

Unfortunately for Howe’s side, Henrique Araujo popped up in the final minute of normal time to make it 3-2 to Benfica and clinch the Eusebio Cup.

Although the match was technically a friendly, the intensity, passion and celebrations upon scoring and lifting the trophy suggested it was a little more than that.

Over 49,000 people were in attendance at Estadio da Luz, which is a greater crowd than any Benfica home league match last season – including the Lisbon derby against Sporting CP back in December.

Despite being hosts of the Eusebio Cup, Benfica’s 3-2 win ended a decade long drought of winning the competition as Newcastle became the first side to lose to the Portuguese outfit since Real Madrid in 2012.