Newcastle United suffer double concern v Crystal Palace as Eddie Howe makes surprising claim

After going down 2-0 against West Ham on Monday night, Eddie Howe would have been praying for a reaction against a Crystal Palace side that started the day second bottom of the Premier League table. However, by the time 5pm had rolled around, there were more questions than answers provided by Howe’s men on yet another frustrating afternoon.

Anytime you lead a match so deep into stoppage time and come away without all three points, you feel disappointed. But on a wintery day in the capital, it was hard to feel Newcastle United were anything but the fortunate ones not to be coming home empty handed.

Howe’s side failed to register a single effort on goal throughout the game, with their goal coming via a deflection off Marc Guehi from an Anthony Gordon cross. Dean Henderson was merely a spectator on Saturday as the Magpies put in yet another toothless attacking performance.

Compounding their misery was the fact that Alexander Isak was forced off with injury after just 21 minutes, with Howe admitting after the game he was unsure how severe the 25-year-old’s problem was. Callum Wilson, deemed not yet fit enough to play 70 minutes, remained on the bench as Howe reshuffled his front-three with Harvey Barnes coming on the pitch.

Speaking after the match, Howe spoke of his disappointment that his side were coming away without the three points, stating: “Very tough to take at the end because we were so close. The game is never over but I thought we had done enough at that moment to have won the game.”

Whilst it’s unsurprising to see Howe defend his side’s performance, an xG of 0.02 and yet more points dropped against teams that finished below them last season paints a very different picture. Seven points from their last four Premier League matches is far from doomsday, but two shots on target from 120 minutes of football suggests a trend that needs fixing - fast.