The Gallowgate End invited Newcastle’s players to write their own headlines with a pre-match mosaic of newspaper cutouts from the club’s most famous nights – but this win is a story half told, and only in Paris next week will the final edition go to press.
Win at the home of the European champions and Eddie Howe’s team will avoid the labour of the Champions League play-off round. Goodness, what an incentive that is for them. Newcastle have been stuck on a two-game-a-week treadmill all winter and desperately need to step off to catch their breath.
To that end, this game was ideal – a maximum return without the need for maximum exertion. PSV gifted them a couple of first-half goals – gladly taken by Yoane Wissa and Anthony Gordon – and the remainder was seen out on energy-saving settings. Harvey Barnes had a power surge midway through the second half to score a third and the only negative was inspirational captain Bruno Guimaraes limping out with an ankle injury.
Howe could do with him recovering in time for the trip to PSG, where only the winner will be guaranteed that coveted top-eight finish.
‘There’s some swelling but it’s difficult to know (how serious) – it’s a worry that he came off,’ said Howe. ‘But this was a great performance. There was good energy from the players and supporters from the start. Now, we want to go to PSG and win.’
This victory confirms a seeded play-off place for Newcastle – and that deserves credit on the back of a turbulent summer – but Howe wants more, so relentless has their schedule been. That has shown in some tired performances of late, but this one was smart from the off.
There is a case for Newcastle being better off without the ball right now. They had a lot of it during Sunday’s goalless draw at Wolves but lacked the guile to unpick a stubborn defence. Here, PSV monopolised possession from kick-off and, on eight minutes, Newcastle led. Their forward play under Howe has always prospered on the break, or profiting from high turnovers. The latter was the source of two goals inside half an hour.
The first came after a low ball into midfield by PSV goalkeeper Matej Kovar found Guimaraes, who quickly returned to send Joelinton clear. The Brazilian arranged his feet just in time to snap right to the unmarked Wissa and he scuffed, perhaps intentionally, over Kovar. A cleaner connection may have allowed the keeper to save.
And so the pattern of those opening exchanges continued, PSV happy to keep the ball and Newcastle more than happy to watch and wait. In the 30th minute, Wissa pounced, picking the pocket of Yarek Gasiorowski and turning a tackle into a pass, leaving Gordon with the invitation of an open goal.
This was the winger’s sixth goal in the Champions League this season and only Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane have more. The mystery – and one he must solve given his importance to the team – is why he has gone more than a year without a goal from open play in the Premier League.
Maybe the answer is simple, and supports why English clubs make up five of this competition’s top eight – Premier League sides are too good. For all the talk of PSV arriving on Tyneside as one of Europe’s form teams – 16 wins from 18 in all competitions and 16 points clear at the top of the Eredivisie – Newcastle have had harder games against promoted sides Sunderland, Burnley and Leeds in the past month or so.
Barnes’ goal, on 65 minutes, was evidence of that superiority. He collected a loose ball in midfield and was too quick and too strong for PSV’s defence, striding clear before finishing for his 12th of the season. Never mind Scottish overtures, he could be playing his way into Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup thinking.
Wissa departed soon after to a standing ovation on his first Champions League start, and him being a nuisance preying on the last line of a defence was a welcome sight for Howe, whose team have so far failed to replace the presence of Alexander Isak at the tip of their attack. For the first time, Wissa looked like that player.
There is an argument for him being rested when Newcastle host Aston Villa on Sunday, such is the magnitude of the game in Paris next Wednesday and what it can do for their season. Those headlines are waiting to be written in the French capital.
