'That was a shift': Alan Shearer has no complaints about Newcastle United's performance tonight
Alan Shearer has been very critical of Newcastle United of late, and rightly so. The former Toon striker has been enraged by the wasted crosses in the games against Manchester United and Wolves in particular.
After a disappointing home defeat against Aston Villa on Sunday, Newcastle really needed a good performance tonight in the Champions League, especially with away trips to Liverpool and Manchester City up next.
Even though Newcastle didn't get the win they needed tonight, and perhaps deserved, we can have absolutely no complaints about the level of performance.
Of course, it wasn't all perfect. The Magpies had to weather a storm for the first 15 minutes or so, and had to put up with the dodgiest referee we've ever seen. On top of that, there was a lot of sloppy play that gave away possession too, but on the whole, Newcastle were excellent tonight.
Alan Shearer hailed Newcastle's second half as 'outstanding'
In fact, Alan Shearer hailed the performance as 'outstanding' on X after the game.
"Outstanding second half from the Toon. Should have nicked late on but that was a shift put in from them. 👏🏻👏🏻"
Newcastle were in control for the entirety of the second half and did everything but put the ball in the back of ht enet. Except for Joe Willock's goal that was rightly ruled out for offside, of course.
Newcastle are still waiting for that win without Bruno Guimaraes but this was close
It still wasn't a win for Newcastle without Bruno Guimaraes being involved, but it was about as close as we've ever come, which is encouraging.
Even more encouraging is how Eddie Howe was able to rest a couple of key players tonight; even if they did come off the bench, they weren't flogging for 90 minutes again.
I think we're probably all disappointed that we have to go through the rigamarole of a play-off, but it's hard to feel anything other than pride tonight. Well done to the lads!
