Nervy Newcastle finally win to relieve pressure on Howe
The roar at the end was raw emotion unleashed. It was a mixture of relief, exhilaration and exhaustion. After an afternoon filled with tension and anxiety Newcastle United secured a victory over Brighton and Hove Albion that felt as important as any of Eddie Howe’s reign.
Howe is normally a good sleeper but it said everything about where he found himself heading into this game, at the end of a week where he had to explain why this season has been so underwhelming to the board, that he admitted he had struggled last night.
“I’ll level with you, there was a moment where I woke up…” Howe said. “There was obviously an anxiety for me that I really wanted the team to perform. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight. Things always look brighter with winning, as much as you try to stay level.”
In front of a high-powered delegation from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, led by chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and co-owner Jamie Reuben, Newcastle put them, their supporters, and the manager through an emotionally gruelling afternoon but ended victorious. Given the circumstances, that was all that mattered.
It was not pretty. There were plenty of reasons to moan and groan, especially in the second half, but Newcastle dragged themselves through it. Having lost so many points from winning positions, this time they held on.
The defence repelled waves of Brighton’s attacks and goalkeeper Nick Pope made three big saves in the game to justify his return to the side. The luck that has so often deserted them in their late capitulations stayed with them. Yankuba Minteh missed a great chance late on to equalise, putting the ball over the bar from eight yards.
Given the pressure building on Howe after a miserable run of five successive defeats – which started with a Champions League thrashing by Barcelona and plunged into despair with a derby defeat to Sunderland – Newcastle’s players had to show they were still playing for him.
With the owners watching on, undoubtedly alarmed by the team’s slide down the league, this was not a game Newcastle could crumble in if Howe’s job was to remain secure heading into a major summer rebuild.
The supporters did their bit. With the team struggling midway through the second half, as the painful memories of so many leads thrown away seemed to paralyse the players with fear, they sang Howe’s name.
It came from all four sides of the stadium; a poignant show of support for a beleaguered manager who has been battered and bruised by criticism and some increasingly toxic online abuse for weeks.
“It meant a lot,” said Howe. “It is massive. I can’t thank everyone enough, even those who didn’t. We’ve not done well enough in recent weeks, we’re the first to hold up our hands and say that. For the crowd to stay with us, loyal to us says more about them, really. We are trying, we’re committed. There’s no part of us that isn’t trying to turn this around.”
The chairman’s visit to the home dressing room after the game also felt significant. He not only congratulated the players and coaching staff, he promised help would come. He talked about unity and togetherness. He also re-emphasised his vision and ambition for the club. After weeks of questions about Howe’s future at the club, this win feels like it delivered more than just three points. It went a long way to answering those questions and the owners will have heard the supporters singing Howe’s name and taken note too.
It could have been a much easier victory for Newcastle, but they have tended to make hard work of everything this season. Having survived an early assault on their goal from Brighton, they took the lead through William Osula , after great work from Jacob Murphy . They doubled it soon after through Dan Burn ’s header from a corner and should have made it three before half time when Malick Thiaw missed a sitter.
But when Jack Hinshelwood pulled a goal back with half an hour left to play, punishing Newcastle for a dire passage of play when Pope kept kicking the ball straight back to their opponents on the halfway line, it looked like Brighton would complete their comeback.
They were the better side but Newcastle survived the storm and after Yoane Wissa had failed to score a third on the counter-attack, Harvey Barnes finally did with the last kick of the game.
