Something is seriously wrong with Newcastle on the road. It is all well and good raising their game for the biggest Champions League fixtures at St James’ Park, but if they continue to play as meekly as they did against Brentford – just as in defeat at West Ham a week earlier and on a concerning number of previous occasions over recent months – those European nights will rapidly become a thing of the past.
Two points above the relegation zone is no place for a club of their ambition. “It’s the wrong end of the table for us, but it’s the reality,” Eddie Howe said. That they ended this match with a numerical disadvantage after Dan Burn’s sending off was of little relevance to a defeat that they fully deserved. Harvey Barnes’s goal aside, they were utterly impotent, offering only his solitary shot on target all match.
Their winless away run now stretches to nine Premier League games, dating back to April. Most worryingly, there was absolutely no sign of it ever ending here. What is this travel malady that so afflicts them when leaving the north-east?
“The team has taken a few hits and I think that showed today,” Howe said. “We know we are going to get criticised, we expect that. We know it’s not good enough and I take full responsibility for that – the work to putting that right starts now.
“It’s not satisfactory. We haven’t done our jobs and feel we have let everybody down. When you make mistakes it’s not intentional from anyone. All you can do is hold your hands up and say let’s fix it. That’s what we’re going to try and do.”
To Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa, Brentford can now add Newcastle to the list of notable clubs they have defeated at home this season. In a game only pockmarked by moments of quality, it was a victory their dominance merited.
That they fell behind in the first place was something of a marvel given Newcastle’s lack of threat. Following the visitors’ only truly slick passing move, Barnes picked up the ball just inside Brentford’s penalty area and sent two defenders the wrong way with a wonderful shift of body weight that provided space to drill between Caoimhín Kelleher’s legs.
As on their trip to West Ham, they were ahead. And just as occurred then, they promptly conceded three times, Kevin Schade nodding an equaliser and Igor Thiago adding a late double. Newcastle have now dropped more points from winning positions in the Premier League this season than any other side.
“Very disappointing that we did get ourselves in a really good position again and we weren’t able to really capitalise,” said Howe. “We were lacking in confidence today. There were a lot of technical mistakes, especially in the middle of the pitch where we’re usually really fluid. That contributed to putting us under pressure. … We know we are good players and have a really good team, but we need to stay grouped together in this difficult period.”
There was a sense of inevitability about the manner of Brentford’s comeback. To the hosts’ credit, they had exhibited their ball-playing prowess numerous times without any luck before equalising through a familiar set-piece route.
Keith Andrews believes Michael Kayode is the best long‑throw taker he has seen, and the Italian provided the goods yet again for Schade to head home. Since the start of last season, Brentford have now scored more than double the number of Premier League goals from throw‑in situations as any other team.
Thereafter followed an extraordinary sequence, featuring the same two protagonists in consecutive incidents. That Brentford were denied a penalty when Dango Ouattara was first felled by Burn will remain a matter of some bemusement, especially after the video assistant referee suggested replays of the Newcastle defender’s studs nestling into the attacker’s ankle constituted “minimal contact”. Ouattara was even booked for diving.
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Yet moments later, Burn received his comeuppance. Played in over the top, Ouattara reached the ball first, again, and was brought down by the same Newcastle player. This time, the referee delivered a different verdict: penalty and a second yellow card for Burn.
Thiago duly stepped up and stroked the ball past Aaron Ramsdale, who had come off the bench to replace the concussed Nick Pope as part of a quadruple substitution after the penalty had been awarded. Howe confirmed later that Pope will not join the England squad during the international break.
With Newcastle all but buried, the Brazilian striker Thiago added an eighth league goal of a brilliant personal campaign after a Malick Thiaw slide tackle diverted the ball straight into his path in injury time.
“Second half we were very, very good and hit high levels in every phase of the game, with the ball, without it, the bits in between and set pieces, obviously,” Andrews said. “We were worthy of the win.”
