Newcastle 1-2 AC Milan: Group F decided at the death as Toon suffer late heartbreak
A devastating night for Newcastle United, who exit Europe altogether on a night that started so well but ended in disaster.
We were heading into the last 16 after Joelinton's early strike sent us 1-0 up as PSG were drawing in Dortmund and in control of the game for large parts, yet two second-half goals for AC Milan, some naive defending and poor game management meant we missed out on the Europa League.
Impossible not to be bitterly disappointed, but I'm proud of these players, grateful for how far we've come and confident we'll come back stronger from this, as hard as it is to take right now.
Howe made just one change from Sunday, seeing Callum Wilson replace Alexander Isak up top. Martin Dubravka passed a late fitness test and Dan Burn was back on the bench that also featured a fit-again Sean Longstaff, Lewis Hall and Loris Karius.
It was Lewis Miley’s sixth start in 18 says - a huge show of faith from Howe once again - and AC Milan danger man Rafa Leao returned for the visitors after causing chaos when we met at the San Siro.
A tribute to the late great Sir Bobby appeared in the Gallowgate End just moments before the players entered the pitch. “There’s only one Bobby Robson” belted around a packed out St James’ full of black and white flags, scarfs and hopes the right two results would fall in our favour.
We made a good start without scoring or really threatening Milan stopper Mike Maignan, until Fikayo Tomori denied Miggy a certain tap in with an unbelievable last-ditch tackle on the line. It looked a goal until the former Chelsea centre-back somehow intercepted Joelinton’s scuffed effort. Saying that, I think Almiron scores easily if he had faith in his right foot...
Trippier was winning his battle against Leao and we were dominating the ball. You could sense some anxiety in the crowd, but any early jitters were eased when Joelinton smashed a brilliant strike into the far corner. The assist? Lewis Miley, who became the youngest ever Englishman to assist a UEFA Champions League goal at the age of 17. What a story, both for our former ‘£40m flop’ and our local lad living his dream.
We got into the break one up, with PSG still level in Dortmund heading into one of the biggest second halves of football many of us have experienced. We had to hold on and hope PSG didn’t beat a Dortmund side who’d only lost at home twice in 2023.
Sadly, it was us who threw it away as Dortmund saw out a 1-1 draw with PSG, but it could’ve been so so different had Maignan not pulled off a stunning fingertip save to push Bruno’s edge of the box effort onto the woodwork, with this coming just 10 minutes after Pulisic drew Milan level with their first shot on target.
With 20 minutes to play and the scores now level, we were still just one moment away from edging back above PSG and making the last 16. Isak, Longstaff an Burn all came on, replacing a knackered Gordon, injured Trippier and impressive Miley, but we gave Milan too much space on the counter and were punished by Chukwueze, who slotted past Dubravka to make it 2-1.
We pushed for an equaliser but ran out of steam, looking like a side who knew they'd blown it as Milan sat deep and frustrated us for the final 10 minutes. From a commanding position and in control of our European fate, to bowing out altogether in the space of 31 minutes - it's a real bitter pill to swallow. The group of death decided at the death.
Proud of this team for giving it a go and remaining competitive in such a difficult group, just gutted we came up short on a night that could've been so different.
Lessons to learn on a really tough night on Tyneside. We'll be back stronger.
