Callum Wilson’s word of the day was ‘frustrated’ as the Newcastle United striker rues his team’s inability to hold onto their lead until the final whistle.
On paper this is absolutely a game Newcastle should have won. One look at the Premier League table should tell you that, but at this stage of the season with so much to play for, strange things can happen.
That was probably why so many Newcastle fans were nervous ahead of today’s game at Leeds, and it turned out that those nerves were justified.
Callum Wilson praised Newcastle’s character to come from behind
I’m sure the game was a good watch from a neutral perspective, seeing two teams in a literal battle at times – The amount of stoppages for free kicks in the opening 20 minutes was incredible – but for fans of the teams involved it was a tough game to watch.
Callum Wilson said at full time while speaking to NUFC TV that the plan was to keep Leeds quiet in the early stages but that didn’t work. When asked for his thoughts on the game he said: “Frustration really. I think we conceded the first goal which is something we tried not to do. That happens in football and you’ve got to react and we showed good character to get back into the game then go in front of it. Then probably frustrated not to see it out, to be honest.”
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Wilson’s two successful penalties put Newcastle in the driving seat with 20 minutes to go, but Leeds, who took an early lead then fluffed a perfect opportunity to double it by having a penalty saved, refused to be beaten.
Their sucker-punch of an equaliser came at a time when I was just starting to feel comfortable. Newcastle had the lead, we’d started passing the ball brilliantly around the park, then we conceded a corner and failed to clear our lines and ultimately found ourselves back on level terms.
Newcastle never looked like scoring from open-play
Even Leeds going down to ten-men in the dying embers of the game wasn’t enough of an advantage for Newcastle, who, to be honest, never looked like scoring from open-play. If it wasn’t for the two penalty decisions, I’m not sure the Magpies would have scored at all. In that sense it feels like a point earned.
Now, putting my black and white tinted specs back on, the gulf in class between the two teams definitely means it was two points dropped for Eddie Howe‘s men.
We go again on Thursday at home to Brighton and if we don’t get anything other than a win there, our grip on that Champions League place will start to slip dramatically, but a win will put us oh so close to glory.