Newcastle 1-2 Barcelona: Englishman’s first two goals for his new club enough to see off the Magpies in tight contest
A visit to St James’ Park is difficult for any side when Newcastle are highly motivated, and it was no different for Barcelona. In a game that maintained high technical quality from start to finish while at the same time threatening to descend into a slugfest, it was Hansi Flick’s side that came out on top thanks to Marcus Rashford’s first two goals for the club.
Newcastle came into the game intent on making a statement, with the opening fixture of their return among Europe’s elite gilded by a visit from Catalonia’s finest players.
Accordingly, Eddie Howe’s side deployed their characteristic fight, their midfield coterie stifling Barcelona’s elite passers. Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton constitute a quality midfield trio that can battle any in the Premier League, and possibly the world on a good day. They are technical enough but they also complement their quality with just the right dose of agression.
In the game Barcelona’s passers struggled to implement their usual act. As they tried to move around with pace, finesse and purpose their opponents came buzzing like bees around the ball.
It was the quintessential Spanish versus English contest, the one side slick and highly technical, the other agressive and direct. On the wings, Raphinha and Rashford were reasonably controlled.
Both sides created but at half time Barcelona were yet to find an attempt on goal. Newcastle’s regular outlet was Anthony Elanga on the right, whose pace continually threatened to cause damage to the Catalans’ daring high line.
At one point, when Anthony Gordon refrained from chasing a forward ball, aware he’d been caught offside, Elanga zoomed forward on turbo-boost, seized the ball and careered along the right wing, before sending a tantalising cross to the opposite side where Harvey Barnes ran onto it. But the latter’s low drive was smartly stopped by Joan Garcia with his foot.
It was a surprise that Howe did not start Nick Woltemade, whose impressive debut performance last weekend should surely have raised confidence in his abilities. Without him Newcastle saw a return of the central problems they faced without a striker in the first three games of the Premier League season.
For Barcelona, despite Lamine Yamal’s absence there is little doubt they still have more than enough talent to get the job done against any team. But the forward trio, while looking dangerous at all times, were muzzled for most of the game.
Fermin Lopez had kicked off Barcelona’s rout of Valencia at the weekend, but at St James’ Park he never found the kind of spaces he had enjoyed, especially with Pedri and Frenkie de Jong imperiously closed down and restricted by the home contingent.
From the start it always felt like Rashford, boosted by a second successive start and a return to England, had all the elements he needed for an archetypal plot. Just before the half hour it came to fruition, as the Englishman lurked like a ghost in the Newcastle penalty area and Jules Kounde’s left-footed cross drifted in.
It was a casual delivery, routine, almost bland. And the goal, when it came, was too quick. With a flick of Rashford’s head the ball had sailed into the net and it had rippled, and the Manchester United loanee was running off in celebration.
His second of the night was equally as dramatic. This time he worked the ball himself, took it away from his man and slammed an impossibly sweet shot goalwards. It cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and fizzed beautifully into the net. In two magnificent individual moments Newcastle’s entire night had been undone.
Howe had made a flurry of changes once his side went down a goal, but it felt like too little too late, especially when he had taken off by far his most dangerous player Elanga.
In the 90th minute Gordon was on the end of a beautifully weighted low cross from Jacob Murphy and swept it in beyond Garcia to make it 2-1, and St James’ Park was given the hope of a late dramatic equaliser. It wouldn’t have been undeserved but Barcelona held firm and denied them.
Late on the visitors had the chance to score a third. Raphinha moved with a flourish and sent the ball into the box to Dani Olmo, who slammed it towards the bottom right corner but Nick Pope was agile.
