Newcastle’s struggles with the demands of midweek European football laid bare in defeat at Brentford | OneFootball

Newcastle’s wait for a first Premier League away win of the season goes on as Dan Burn was sent off in a 3-1 defeat at Brentford.

Last week’s dreadful away loss to West Ham at the London Stadium, in which boss Eddie Howe admitted his side looked “unrecognisable”, demanded a response. He got that in midweek with their Champions League victory over Athletic Club, but they returned to familiar ways at the Gtech Community Stadium.

They looked to still be feeling the affects of their European clash in the early stages, struggling to match the Bees’ intensity and giving the ball away cheaply with some tired passing. They also lost perhaps their most energetic player in Joelinton to a nasty knock early on.

But Harvey Barnes, starting in place of the injured Anthony Gordon, gave the away side the lead with a brilliantly taken goal, chopping in and then out before firing low into the back of the net. The goal looked to dent Brentford’s confidence and Newcastle got to half-time with a one-goal lead.

Their opponents were fired up after the break, however, clearly sensing their opponents’ tiredness, and equalised when Kevin Schade headed in from close range after Michael Kayode’s long throw had been inadvertently flicked on by Newcastle defender Sven Botman.

You would do well to find anyone in world football with a better long throw-in than Kayode, and it has become one of the most dangerous attacking weapons in the Premier League. Its speed and flatness caused problems for the Newcastle defence and goalkeeper Nick Pope throughout the first half and the visitors were finally punished for their inability to deal with it.

Newcastle and Dan Burn then got away with one when the defender appeared to trip the dangerous Dango Ouattara in the penalty area. Burn’s reaction certainly appeared to suggest he thought he had given away a spot-kick, but instead referee Stuart Attwell opted to book Ouattara for diving.

And the replays certainly showed that was harsh. While the contact was light, and the Brentford man fell theatrically to the floor which perhaps worked against him, Burn clearly made contact with the forward and it was certainly much more of a penalty than it was a yellow card for diving.

But those feelings of being hard done by would quickly be forgotten by the Bees when Burn again brought down Ouatarra in the box, and this time was punished. The England defender had a nightmare up against the pace of the Burkina Faso international and was caught out again when he missed his attempted clearance and instead made contact with his opponent. To make matters worse, he received his second yellow card of the game and was sent off.

Igor Thiago was made to wait an age to take the spot-kick, first because of another long VAR check and then because of Howe’s decision to make four changes, including bringing on goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale for Nick Pope. The first thing Ramsdale was tasked with was trying to save Thiago’s penalty but the Brazilian dispatched it calmly, sending the former Arsenal keeper the wrong way and rolling the ball into the back of the net.

The brilliant Brazilian had time to add another too when he raced through and calmly slotted past Ramsdale to make it 3-1. Only Erling Haaland has scored more Premier League goals than the Brentford striker this season and he has certainly helped to ensure the losses of Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, who was not involved for Newcastle against his former club as he continues to recover from a knee injury, have not been felt as much as many had anticipated.

There is no shame in losing to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. Plenty of teams have done and will no doubt continue to do so this season. Boss Keith Andrews and those in charge at the club have handed a difficult summer, which saw the departure of boss Thomas Frank and key players Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard and Wissa, extremely well, bringing in more than adequate replacements for those who have left, including the head coach.

But there are significant worries at Newcastle. Their Champions League campaign might be a saving grace, but there is little hope of getting back there again next season if their recent league performances are anything to go by, and they once again look to be struggling with the demands of playing midweek and weekend fixtures against top opposition.