‘Ferocious’ Newcastle star now undroppable after what he did vs Barcelona
Newcastle United’s Champions League defeat to Barcelona was not all doom and gloom for Eddie Howe and his staff.
Marcus Rashford scored a double as St James’ Park was suddenly silenced on Thursday, 18 September, only for Anthony Gordon to deliver a shred of hope in the final moments by pulling one back.
The Magpies had some key chances to score. Harvey Barnes missed two opportunities in the first half, and his teammates went on to rue those misses as the La Liga giants showed their true talent in the final third.
Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes both had shots at goal during the clash, but nobody in the team quite had as much impact in the final third as the winger on the opposite side to Barnes.
Anthony Elanga causes multiple problems for Barcelona
Anthony Elanga was an absolute menace throughout the game, causing several problems for Barca’s back line, and supporters understood that the former Nottingham Forest man had given everything on the pitch.
Ally McCoist was baffled by the decision to replace Elanga after 63 minutes, and by the sound of the crowd at the same time, those at St James’ Park were equally as shocked.
In fact, the Sweden international will have felt extremely unlucky not to walk off the pitch with an assist to his name, with Barnes brilliantly denied by Joan Garcia following the winger’s pass across the box.
Taking to X (18 September), Henry Winter labelled the winger “ferocious” as he ran at Barca’s defence, but as pointed out, his crosses were missing a focal point in the centre of the penalty area.
What did Eddie Howe say about Harvey Barnes’ missed chances?
Speaking after the defeat (18 September), Howe said: “We were really in the game. I never felt we were out of it. I’m disappointed we didn’t score the first goal. That was crucial.
“We had the chances to do it. It was a whole-hearted, gutsy display, but maybe lacking the quality to get us the win,” and the manager could not have been more spot-on with his assessment.
Had Barnes tucked away his early chances, the game would have been flipped on its head, and the Magpies might have had every opportunity to seal three points against Hansi Flick’s side.
Instead, Howe will be hoping for his side to get their first points on the board when facing Union St Gilloise at the beginning of next month.