Newcastle 1-1 Chelsea: Miley shines and Miggy magic secures draw in Atlanta
Newcastle made it two draws out of two in the Premier League Summer Series as Miguel Almiron's tidy finish on his return to Atlanta cancelled out Nicolas Jackson's opener in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.
STARTING XI: (4-3-3) Dubravka – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn – Joelinton, Tonali, L. Miley – Almiron, Isak, Gordon.
SUBS: Pope*, Gillespie, Ashby*, Savage, J. Miley, Turner-Cooke*, Murphy*, Parkinson*
Newcastle dominated the ball throughout the game while Chelsea sat a lot deeper, inviting pressure and looked to play on the counter with the bundles of pace that they possessed up top.
Our defence was split open after 12 minutes by a simple through ball from Ian Maatsen right into the path of Jackson who slotted it past Martin Dubravka, who was in no man’s land, to make it 1-0. It was a poor goal to giveaway from Newcastle’s perspective who had started to grow into the game.
Up until the goal, the Magpies had actually looked the better side with some good linkup play in the midfield, particularly from Lewis Miley who once again didn’t look out of place in the team.
Our defence was caught lacking yet again as Fabian Schar picked up a yellow card for a harsh challenge on Jackson. The lack of pace in the back line looked like it could be a huge weakness for us this season, especially up against teams full of electric players like Chelsea.
Time and time again Dan Burn was beaten for pace down the right-hand side, leaving us very exposed at the back and opening up a lot of space for the opposition. Thankfully, the Blues were unable to capitalise, but it's certainly something Howe will want to improve on.
There were a few sloppy passes in the first half with one in particular from Fabian Schar on the half hour mark directly leading to a Chelsea counterattack. Mykhailo Mudryk was allowed to drive down the left-wing before setting up Cesare Casadei whose shot was saved fairly comfortably by Dubravka.
Newcastle’s first substitution of the night came earlier than expected as Schar left the field for Alex Murphy on the 35th minute after picking up a knock. The Swiss defender was able to walk off the pitch by himself, but not an ideal scenario for Howe who is already in the market for another centre-back.
We nearly found an equaliser five minutes before half-time as Almiron’s cross was headed on by Alexander Isak who inadvertently finds the substitute Murphy, but his header is saved somewhat fortunately by Kepa’s shoulder.
Newcastle finally levelled the game up four minutes into added time as Almiron marked his return to Atlanta with a goal. The Paraguayan received a lovely ball into the box from Anthony Gordon who showed some great work driving through the midfield.
Despite making wholesale changes at the break against Aston Villa, our only substitution in Atlanta was in goal as Dubravka made way for Nick Pope who made his first appearance since our final home game of the season against Leicester. There was also a positional change up top as Gordon moved in to the striker role while Isak, who had rarely been involved, moved out wide.
The Swedish forward used his tricky feet to create our first chance of the half as he sent Reece James the wrong way before setting up Miley on the edge of the box. The teenager's tame effort was comfortably saved, but there was certainly a spark down our left-hand side.
Pope was called into action shortly after as he made a good diving save to prevent Chelsea retaking the lead through Christopher Nkunku. The shot-stopper once again showed why he's our number one just five minutes later with an excellent save from Conor Gallagher's effort which he managed to divert out for a corner.
Almiron was our third change of the evening as he made way for Ben Parkinson, another youngster from our academy. The 18-year-old only signed his first pro deal a few weeks ago and will no doubt make the most of his time in the US with the first team.
Parkinson almost had the chance to win the game with 10 minutes remaining as he was left wide open on the right-wing, but Murphy's ball lacked a bit of pace and was comfortably headed away by the Chelsea defence.
Trippier and Joelinton were our final substitutions of the night as the pair were replaced by Harrison Ashby and Jay Turner-Cooke.
With what was surely the final chance of the game, Ben Chilwell saw a powerful shot superbly saved and tipped past the post by Pope who was rightly applauded by his teammates. The keeper had certainly showed how much of a difference he makes in between the sticks.
It was a fairly uneventful second half for both sides as Newcastle made it two draws out of two in the inaugural Summer Series tournament.
Miley was once again the standout performer as he looked calm and collected on the ball and drove through the midfield with pace despite his 6ft 3. build Gordon was another who shone for the Magpies, his versatility also showing as he transitioned from on the left to through middle to playing off of Isak in the latter stages of the game.
After the game, Eddie Howe said: "It was a really good exercise and challenge for us. I thought it was a battling, gritty, determined second-half and a young team at the end. We saw it out and got a good draw."
On Miguel Almiron, he added: "Amazing moment for Miggy. The goal itself was a good one. It was a really composed finish from quite a long way out. He's picked his corner. Miggy communicates through his smile and his body language."
Next up, Newcastle will round of this tour of the US with one final Summer Series game against Brighton on Saturday morning (12:30am) in New Jersey.
