Newcastle United F.C.
·8. August 2025
Newcastle United 2 RCD Espanyol 2

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Yahoo sportsNewcastle United F.C.
·8. August 2025
Ramsdale denied Javi Puado from the spot after Matt Targett had cancelled out Edu Expósito's eyecatching opener before the break at St. James' Park.
Will Osula and Fabian Schär went close in the second half for Eddie Howe's side, who thought they had secured their first win of pre-season in their penultimate outing thanks to Jacob Murphy's neat finish in the final quarter of an hour.
But former Middlesbrough forward Kike García nodded home from six yards out late on for the Catalan outfit to ensure the spoils were shared on Tyneside.
Young winger Seung-soo Park, in for his first start on home soil since his summer arrival, was well received by the home supporters and looked bright in the opening exchanges, but a moment of quality saw the LaLiga side take the lead on 17 minutes. Some sharp passing and a bit of invention on the edge of the United box led to Expósito's terrific first-time drive which flew past Ramsdale, who joined on loan from Southampton last week.
The hosts responded, though, and were level four minutes later thanks to unlikely goalscorer. Osula and Emil Krafth were involved in the build-up but Targett's finish owed much to Lewis Miley's assist. The teenager danced through a couple of tackles in the box and lofted a perfect cross into the middle, where the former Southampton full back arrived on cue to power home a header.
Murphy saw an effort blocked and Bruno Guimarães curled over from distance as Newcastle's midfield began to grow in influence, but it took a fine stop from Ramsdale to keep Howe's side on level terms going into the break. Targett was - somewhat harshly - penalised for a challenge on Expósito in the area by referee Michael Oliver, and Puado stepped up to take the penalty. The Espanyol captain's spot kick was palmed away by debutant Ramsdale, diving low to his right to keep it out.
Alfie Harrison was introduced in place of Lewis Hall at the break and six minutes after the restart, Ángel Fortuño in the visitors' goal did well to get down to his left and repel Osula's deflected drive that looked destined for the bottom corner.
Seung-soo's encouraging display granted him a warm ovation when he was withdrawn just after the hour and replaced by Sean Neave, but his side's industry remained and Schär came close to putting them in front inside the final 20 minutes. The chance came from a well-worked set piece concocted by Murphy and Targett, with the latter's clipped cross find the Swiss defender at the far post. His shot was blocked by Fortuño, who wasn't quite so fortunate minutes later when Murphy took aim.
Their second goal was something of a gift for the Magpies. Ramon Terrats inexplicably attempted to play his way out of trouble in his own penalty box and, under pressure from Harrison, passed straight to Murphy. The widman took the chance with his left foot, finding the target via the upright, and that effort - coupled with a smart late save from Ramsdale to deny Tyrhys Dolan from range - looked to have set Howe's men up nicely for Saturday's final pre-season outing against Atlético Madrid.
But Kike pounced with just two minutes left, glancing home Pere Milla's inswinging cross to make it 2-2 and deny Newcastle the win in front of their own supporters.
Newcastle United: Aaron Ramsdale; Emil Krafth, Fabian Schär, Dan Burn, Matt Targett; Lewis Miley, Bruno Guimarães, Lewis Hall (Alfie Harrison 46); Jacob Murphy, Will Osula, Seung-soo Park (Sean Neave 61).
Substitutes: John Ruddy, Mark Gillespie, Leo Shahar, Cathal Heffernan, Alex Murphy, Scott Bailey, Dylan Charlton, Trevan Sanusi, Garang Kuol.
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