Newcastle left bruised by ’10 minutes of madness’

Fans at Newcastle United must have believed they were at the end of the world.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had been a thorn in their side for years during his 18-year career at Arsenal.

Before Tuesday night’s Champions League game in Marseille, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe had warned the 36-year-old that she “looked as good as ever.”

Aubameyang’s quickfire double turned the game on its head at the Stade Velodrome, and it was enough to win the French team a 2-1 comeback victory. Newcastle was once again haunted by the biggest stage of all.

As the visitors’ road battles continued, Howe’s men’s stories became well-known.

Newcastle led, just like they did in their most recent away games against Brentford and West Ham. In the end, they tossed it away, just like they did with the London Stadium and the Gtech Community Stadium.

While Howe clung to “positive signs,” Defender Dan Burn described it as “10 minutes of madness.”

The irritable boss remarked, “We’re a little bit bruised right this second, but we’ll come back.” We have some exciting games in store.

We never anticipated that this competition would be simple. It was never going to be simple.

Even though Newcastle had initially handled a white-hot environment so successfully by gaining the upper hand, things could have been so different.

Before kick-off, the noise levels were clearly audible, and officials and officials were whistled loudly as they entered the warm-up area.

Flares were removed, ticker tape flew in the air, and a stunning tifo rose from the terraces with a banner that read “For my town, for my club.”

Newcastle, however, was prepared.

According to Howe, they had arrived early, trained at the Velodrome on Monday night, and looked at different ways to prepare for the game day, “to keep the players mentally engaged and ready for this game.”

That preparation appeared to have paid off against a second-place team in La Liga.

Newcastle started aggressively without being cowed by the crowd.

In the sixth minute, Harvey Barnes’ side went ahead thanks to his match-winning double against Manchester City on Sunday.

But Marseille rallied, which was crucial because Newcastle mishandled their advantage.

After Aubameyang squandered numerous chances in the opening half, the visitors were given enough warnings.

The Marseille forward, who had traveled extensively after the break, was not so sympathetic because Newcastle had to pay a high price for a poor kick-off.

After a number of duels deep in the opposition half, Fabian Schar’s side struggled to reclaim control of the ball.

Darryl Bakola, a 17-year-old who had a pass to Timothy Weah, was too easy for the defense of Newcastle to stop the game by making a through-ball into the right-hand channel.

Given how far Aubameyang was from goal, a Marseille equalizer was not exactly a foregone conclusion.

However, Nick Pope rushed off his line in an effort to beat Aubameyang before being caught in no man’s land as the right-winger nipped in and finished superbly from a tight angle.

Howe emphasized that despite the poor decision, he “backed” Pope after the game, citing the goalkeeper’s “some really good saves against Manchester City just three days ago.”

Four minutes later, Newcastle’s defense did not much better than Marseille’s decisive second goal.

Aubameyang finished well at the near post after Weah beat Tino Livramento down the right. Schar was ahead of him.

Sadly, they never really looked like equalizing, despite having plenty of time to reclaim the lead.

“We have lost 15 minutes of the second half,” Burn said, according to Burn.

“To come to a team like this, a stadium like this, this atmosphere, and put all that in and not leave with anything,” says one player.

That story has come to be well-known.

Newcastle have won each of their last six games at St James’ Park overall, but they have only won once while traveling. One of three victories in the Champions League placed them eighth in the standings following that victory on October 1 with a 4-0 victory over Union St. Gilloise.

And if they want to move up from 14th place in the Premier League, they will need to rally quickly for another significant test at Everton on Saturday.