We suffered defeat at St James’ Park as Alexander Isak’s early header was enough for Newcastle United to take all three points.

The Swedish striker’s goal proved to be a key moment in a game of few chances, with Mikel Merino having our best chance when Lewis Hall cleared a shot off the line in the first half.

There was late drama when Declan Rice appeared to have equalized but sent his header wide, ultimately leading to consecutive away league defeats for the first time since May 2022.

Quick kickback

The first half was a close affair as neither team was able to get the better of the other, meaning there were few shooting opportunities. However, the decisive moment came after 12 minutes when most of St James’ Park erupted in celebration.

Isak was found in open space in the final third and passed the ball to Sea Longstaff, who fed Anthony Gordon on the right. The Englishman took a dangerous shot for the first time and Isak rose highest to fire a header past David Raya, who scored for the third time in a row.

This gave the hosts, winless in five league games, a huge dose of confidence and managed to keep us calm in the first 25 minutes, with Bukayo Saka going closest with two tries that went either side of Isak’s goal was.

We almost equalized when William Saliba headed Declan Rice’s corner into a crowded penalty area, leading to a shot from Mikel Merino which was blocked on the line by Lewis Hall and ran away.

But the remaining 20 minutes of the first 45 were difficult as neither team tested either goalkeeper, although some good balls were fired into the home side’s penalty area, meaning everything was still wide open in the second half.

Stalemate in the second half

That could quickly have been no longer the case in the first minute after the restart, when former marksman Joe Willock set his sights on goal after a quick counter-attack, but Raya was equal to his performance, and then the same player tried his luck again 58 minutes , but this time the ball stormed into the home fans from a good position.

By this point Newcastle were in the lead and Raya was called into action again five minutes later when he parried away a fierce shot from Isak from 20 yards. However, the game was on a knife’s edge and we almost equalized seconds later when Rice deflected into the box and saw a shot deflect agonizingly past Nick Pope’s far post.

But once again the chances dried up as both teams defended resolutely and with four minutes remaining Joelinton was next, forcing Raya to get his gloves dirty, albeit with a tame header.

As the game went into stoppage time, Ethan Nwaneri tried to repeat his great shot at Preston in midweek but saw it sail into the Gallowgate End, but in the 94th minute Rice was presented with a huge chance when Saka fired in a delicious shot The Englishman failed and missed the chance to secure a point.

What’s next?

We turn our attention to the Champions League and travel to Italy on Wednesday evening for the game against Inter Milan at the San Siro. Then there will be a Premier League duel with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday November 10th, before the last international break of the year.