Newcastle 1-1 Man Utd: Play like that every week and we won't be going down...

An outstanding performance, incredible effort and yet another superb atmosphere at St James' Park - all that was missing was three points and that bit of luck we've been lacking in recent weeks.

After Allan Saint-Maximin gave us the lead just seven minutes in, we looked to be edging closer to a 1-0 win before Edinson Cavani equalised for the visitors.

Late chances came our way, with Murphy striking the post, Almiron having a shot superbly saved by De Gea and Joelinton almost latching onto cut back, however it wasn't to be in the end.

There was a mixture of hope, pride and frustration swirling around St James' Park soon after the full time whistle. While it felt like a missed opportunity to get another all important win, there's now more belief that they will come in droves if we continue to play like that AND bring in a few quality additions in January.

Eddie Howe made SIX changes from the defeat to Man City, seeing Krafth, Schär, Manquillo, Longstaff, Shelvey and Saint-Maximin come in for Clark, Hayden, Murphy, Ritchie, Willock and Almiron.

There were also concerns about the COVID situation at the club before the game, with several players absent from the matchday squad (Darlow, Clark, Willock and Ritchie) and Howe admitting afterwards that we are now 'dangerously close' to having Thursday's trip to Everton called off is more positive tests come back.

Back to tonight's game, Joelinton was outstanding and the best player on the pitch once again. Every single player in a black and white shirt did their bit, with Krafth much improved, Fraser a constant pest, Longstaff combative and the two centre-backs at it all night, however the big Brazilian was monstrous in the middle of the pitch.

The bad news is that both Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin were forced off with injuries either side of the break, meaning they look almost certain to miss our next two games against Everton and Southampton...providing they go ahead!

Javier Manquillo - another player who barely put a foot wrong - will also be missing for our next game, having picked up his fifth yellow of the season for time-wasting late on.

A superb display, another great atmosphere and plenty reasons to be hopeful, just a real shame we couldn't come away with the three points our level of performance warranted.

Next up, a trip to Goodison Park on Thursday...if COVID allows it!