Newcastle United’s highly-anticipated return to the UEFA Champions League had seen the Magpies earn a draw at the San Siro before stunning Paris Saint-Germain – but after falling to a slender defeat against Borussia Dortmund in the North East last time out, Eddie Howe’s side would be hoping for an improved performance in the return fixture on Tuesday.
BVB: Kobel; Ryerson, Schlotterbeck, Hummels, Süle; Özcan, Sabitzer; Brandt, Nmecha, Adeyemi; Füllkrug
NEW: Pope; Hall, Schär, Lascelles, Trippier; Willock, Guimarães, Longstaff; Joelinton, Wilson, Livramento
In desperate need of a win to reignite their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, Newcastle United slipped behind their German opponents after 26 minutes at the famed Signal Iduna Park.
Having teed up Marcel Sabitzer with a headed effort, Niclas Füllkrug received the ball back from the Austrian midfielder in the form of a drilled low cross into the box. The forward made no mistake, dispatching past Nick Pope to open the scoring.
Embed from Getty ImagesAnd while there were marked improvements in Newcastle United’s second-half performance, Joelinton squandered their best opportunity just after the interval – heading wide of the woodwork from Tino Livramento’s promising cross.
Julian Brandt added a second for die Borussen with ten minutes of regulation time remaining, with a rapid counterattack leaving the visiting defence in tatters as Borussia Dortmund completed the double over Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United.
There’s plenty to ponder for the Magpies ahead of this weekend’s trip to AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, but they’ll have one eye already on their penultimate UEFA Champions League group stage match. That will see them travel to Paris Saint-Germain on November 28, while Borussia Dortmund venture to AC Milan’s iconic San Siro.
