Newcastle United steal a point on the road against Crystal Palace

Newcastle United were fortunate to steal a point at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace missed some good opportunities to win the match.

Newcastle United and Crystal Palace played to a 0-0 draw this afternoon. Newcastle will see this as a good result after losing four matches to Premier League giants. Crystal Palace, on the other end, are right to be frustrated as they dropped points at home.

Newcastle never settled into this match as a result of poor offensive efficiency. Crystal Palace were more aggressive and played with more urgency. The home side clearly wanted to win today, but Newcastle did just enough to prevent that from happening.

First Half

The first 45 minutes of the match belonged to Crystal Palace. Aside from a golden opportunity that was wasted by Ayoze Perez in the eighth minute, Newcastle did a lot of ball chasing. The Eagles utilized their possession of the ball to perfection as they managed to create ten scoring opportunities in the first half.

Newcastle did a decent job in trying to isolate Wilfried Zaha to mitigate his impact, but he managed to concede fouls in dangerous areas near the penalty box. Luka Milivojevic was the best player on the pitch as every free-kick he took forced Martin Dubravka to make big saves. On one occasion, Milivojevic almost gave Crystal Palace the lead after hitting the post.

Offensively, Newcastle did not look organized and the Magpies struggled with field spacing. Rafa Benitez’s men did well in earning four corner kicks. Newcastle strung together some good passes, but the final execution was not there.

Second Half

Rafa Benitez decided to replace Salomon Rondon with Joselu in the 45th minute and this proved to be a wise decision as Joselu was more active on the front-line. Newcastle played with some more energy in the opening minutes of the second half and an acrobatic shot from Joselu almost gave the Magpies a 1-0 lead.

Aside from that impressive attempt, Crystal Palace gradually regained control of the match and looked more dangerous offensively. Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha made life difficult for Newcastle on the wings.

Poor defending in the penalty area gifted Crystal Palace with a great opportunity to secure three points late in the game, but Mamadou Sakho sent his header wide of the open goal. Overall, the home side deserved to win this match, but Newcastle lucked out and stole a point.

Final Note

This was not the best performance for Newcastle United, far from it, but they did enough to return home with a point. Newcastle must improve on both ends of the field ahead of their match against Leicester City next weekend. The Magpies should not be allowing a mid-table side to create 16 scoring chances against them.

Newcastle found pride in their defensive solidity last season, but they have been inconsistent this term. A key concern for the club going forward is their ineffective offense. Benitez must find a way to motivate his players to get better looks in matches.