Loss was “so disappointing” but manager doesn’t think it will “define our season”
Eddie Howe feels “horrible” after his Newcastle side lost to Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby, although he insists their season will not be defined by the performance.
Newcastle were beaten 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, the game decided by a second-half own goal from Nick Woltemade. The striker’s attempted clearance looped over Aaron Ramsdale and into the net, leaving Howe’s team with no way back in a match where they were lethargic and struggled to create any clear chance.
“It’s a horrible feeling, it’s very painful,” Howe said. “It was not our finest game. It’s so disappointing, we know our performance was not what it needed to be.”
The derby had a brilliant confrontational attitude to it. At the start Sunderland fans unveiled a tifo showing a ferocious Black Cat attacking a terrified Magpie. The logos of the two teams playing are usually displayed on the scoreboard at the Stadium of Light, but for this game Newcastle’s logo was replaced instead by “Visitors”.
After the game the Sunderland players took a team photo on the pitch in mockery of a similar photograph Newcastle had taken two seasons ago when they beat the Black Cats in the FA Cup.
Newcastle themselves displayed a message in front of the visiting dressing room that said “Get into them”, but they were unable to do that on the evening.
“I don’t think it will define our season,” said Howe. “Nothing is lost today. It was a game of very few chances settled by a freak goal and we couldn’t create the openings we wanted.”
