Borussia Dortmund (H) player ratings: Wor Flags' display gets the only 10/10 tonight

Newcastle United drop to third in Champions League Group F after a narrow defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Eddie Howe and his men will feel like they should have at least taken a point tonight, but it just wasn't meant to be. Newcastle didn't play well by any means, as our ratings will no doubt show, but neither did Borussia Dortmund, really.

There were a few questionable decisions from the ref, and a few chances that should have been buried, but we're going to blame it on the weather. Newcastle's (and indeed, Dortmund's) passing was horrific and that really affected how the game played out. It definitely seemed to affect Kieran Trippier more than most.

With that in mind, these ratings might look harsh, or in some cases, maybe not harsh enough. *cough*Callum Wilson*cough*!

Newcastle United Football Club via X

Only a few starters played anywhere near their best level

Nick Pope – 7

Made a huge double save early on but stood no chance with Nmecha's goal. He distributed from his hands brilliantly at times, with some massive throws setting Gordon away on the counter-attack in the second period, but did have a few flappy moments late on.

Kieran Trippier – 5

Comfortably the worst performance of Tripps' season to date, though he has been exceptional throughout. He looked a yard off it and his delivery was shocking throughout, with just 2/18 crosses finding a teammate and only 2/7 of his duels being won.

Jamaal Lascelles (c) – 6

Put in a solid overall performance, though he did have a few shaky moments in possession and seemed to be the trigger for Dortmund's press. Still, he's come on leaps and bounds and didn't look at all out of place against very good opposition.

Fabian Schär – 6

After completely running the game against Palace at the weekend he found it much tougher to have an impact in possession here, though he was still our best defender on the night. He used the ball well and was one of the few to show any composure.

Dan Burn – 5

It wasn't really a night for the big left-back, as it was a very technical contest and that's never going to be his strength. He was substituted in the 70th minute to try and give us more threat going forward, and we did look better in attack for it.

Sean Longstaff – 5

Managed just 29 touches in his 65 minutes and always seemed a yard late in the press, while he completed just 14 of his 21 attempted passes, which isn't good enough for a central midfielder. Let's not forget how good he's been recently, though.

Bruno Guimarães – 7

The only one of the midfield trio to play anywhere near his level but lacked support throughout and showed a few glimpses of frustration with a lack of passing options ahead of him. Won 8/10 ground duels in another gritty showing.

Joelinton – 5

Doesn't look to be anywhere near match sharpness, which is something we flagged at the weekend as well. Wanted too much time on the ball and slowed a number of our more promising moves down, while unusually only winning 2/6 ground duels.

Miguel Almirón – 5

We've said before that Miggy has a typical non-scoring performance, and this was another of those. He didn't justify the decision to start him ahead of Murphy, unfortunately, despite making a very bright start in terms of his pressing.

Alexander Isak – 5

The game went out of the window when he went off injured with a recurrence of the groin problem that kept him out recently. He didn't have enough time to impact proceedings heavily before then, but losing him was a massive blow.

Anthony Gordon – 7 ⭐️

Lost possession for the Dortmund winner, but there was more than a hint of a shirt pull on him prior to the tackle. Also missed our best chance in the first half, but was undeniably our best player overall and still looks incredibly sharp.

Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via X

The substitutes didn't fare much better on a frustrating night

Callum Wilson – 5

Missed our best chance of the game and found it tough going, despite having plenty of time on the pitch due to Isak's early injury. He looked visibly frustrated all night.

Jacob Murphy – 5

Only managed five minutes before going off with what Howe later called "a very serious-looking injury".

Sandro Tonali – 6

Played with a huge amount of purpose and intensity in his 25 minutes, but often found himself too isolated on the right.

Matt Targett – 6

Put in a great delivery for the Wilson header that hit the bar and was a noticeable step up on Burn in an attacking capacity.

Joe Willock – 6

You wouldn't know he'd been out for so long after this cameo. He's going to be massive for us when back to full fitness.

Next up for the Magpies

It's a trip to Molineux to face Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday evening. That one's a 5.30 p.m. kick-off on Sky.

Howay the lads!