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Toon Takeaways from a 1-0 Newcastle loss at Palace

By Carson A Merk

Crystal Palace's Dutch defender Patrick van Aanholt celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the English Premier League football match between Crystal Palace and Newcastle United at Selhurst Park in south London on February 22, 2020. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Crystal Palace's Dutch defender Patrick van Aanholt celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the English Premier League football match between Crystal Palace and Newcastle United at Selhurst Park in south London on February 22, 2020. (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Newcastle United couldn’t find the net again, losing 1-0 vs. Crystal Palace.

Playing on the road, Newcastle United struggled again in the attack and suffered a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Former Magpie loanee Patrick van Aanholt’s free kick in the first half was the only tally.

Dubravka Keeps Things Close

I don’t even want to imagine how this one would’ve played out without Martin Dubravka in goal. He made some massive saves, especially in the first half, and kept Newcastle United within striking distance.  Christian Benteke’s poor form in front of goal also benefited Newcastle.

Miserable Midfield

Nabil Bentaleb and Sean Longstaff started in the central midfield and they were constantly trying to outdo the other one with giveaways and poor shots. Outside of a few long diagonal passes connecting from Bentaleb, each player gave away possession when on the ball and had wayward shots and crosses at inopportune times. If there was any silver lining, it was the effort they put in defensively, despite being outnumbered.

More of the Ball, For What?

In a rare occurrence, Newcastle actually held an edge in possession. But, they finished with half of the shots that Palace tallied and had two shots on target compared to nine for their opponent. Today was one of the worst passing days I’ve seen from the Magpies this season and they couldn’t turn their 55.8% of possession into anything in the attack.

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Quick Kicks

  • At times in both halves, Allan Saint-Maximin appeared to be playing as the striker with Joelinton out wide. This made very little sense…
  • Speaking of ASM, he was one of the few positives today. He drove the action and found himself in the dangerous spots that gave Newcastle their best chances.
  • It was nice of the Newcastle players to show some passion and fight late in the match with some pushing and shoving. Unfortunately, they had much less aggressiveness when on the ball.
  • Very unnecessary red card from Valentino Lazaro that will see him miss the valuable match time he desperately desires.
  • I was hopeful that Isaac Hayden would have started over Sean Longstaff and the latter’s performance confirmed my feelings on that.

What’s Next?

Newcastle United will close out February with a match against Burnley on the leap day, 2/29. The Clarets currently occupy a top-ten position on the EPL table after thrashing Bournemouth, 3-0.