Marseille 2 Newcastle 1 and match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players | OneFootball

We asked Mark Jankowski to give us his match ratings and player comments after Marseille 2 Newcastle 1.

Pope 5

Had it not been for the absolute lunacy of his rush out of goal at the start of the second half, I probably would have been giving Nick Pope a seven or an eight for his performance.

He made a few really good saves and commanded his box well when needed.

His aggressive nature off the line has saved us in the past when we’ve played with slower centre-backs, but Malick Thiaw has excellent pace and had the situation well in hand, so there was no need for Pope to be that far off his line.

Livramento 6

A decent first half performance from Tino after his excellent showing at the weekend.

He afforded Weah a little bit too much room to get the cross in for Marseille’s second and was withdrawn probably with an eye on keeping him match fit.

Thiaw 8

The German defender continues to put in stellar performance after stellar performance.

He made a couple of excellent recovery tackles to preventing Aubameyang getting shots off in both the first and the second half.

He must have been very confused to see Nick Pope racing out of position early in the second half, as he very likely would have been able to shepherd Aubameyang to the corner or back towards his own goal.

Schar 6

Schar was solid defensively in the first half with a few vital blocks when crosses came into the box.

However, he found himself a little bit off the pace when Weah swung in a cross shortly into the second half and Aubameyang got across the front of him to finish for Marseille’s second.

Burn 7

Burn looked much more assured than he has in recent weeks, returning to his more natural centre-back position.

This time playing as part of a central back three, he was commanding in the air and solid in the tackle throughout the game.

Bruno 6

Bruno was not quite at the same heights as we’ve seen him over the past couple of games.

However, he put in a good performance in all areas apart from his final ball.

When he’s not getting that quite right, it does stand out a little more just because he’s so aggressive in trying to play those kinds of passes. There was just one too many wasteful forward balls into the final third this evening.

Tonali 6

Tonali worked relentlessly as ever in our midfield with lots of recovery runs time and again to help slow down or prevent Marseille counter-attacks.

Similar to Bruno, his efforts in the final third were left a little bit wanting this evening.

He managed to find himself in excellent positions on a couple of occasions. Towards the end of the first half, the ball broke to him in the Marseille box, however he put in a tame shot rather than squaring the ball to Bruno who was unmarked.

Willock 7

I thought Willock’s performance was one of the highlights of an otherwise frustrating evening.

There were a few eyebrows raised when he got the start ahead of others but he justified his selection with an excellent pressing performance.

Driving the ball forward whenever he could, he nearly bagged an assist late in the first half, an excellent cross just evaded Anthony Gordon in the box.

He also had one of the biggest chances of the second half too.

Murphy 5

He was very sloppy at times in possession but worked diligently in his defensive duties while he was on the pitch.

Murphy was starting to have a little joy swinging the ball into the box in the second-half but was withdrawn before making any real impact.

Gordon 6

I’m really struggling to score Gordon’s performance because I thought off the ball he was excellent.

His press at the top caused havoc in the Marseille back line and was crucial in our tactics in the first half.

However, he didn’t do enough in possession to really trouble the Marseille defenders or keeper enough, so I’ll give him a possibly generous six.

Barnes 7

Barnes’ excellent run of form in front of goal continued tonight, finishing expertly at the beginning of the game.

In addition to his finishing, Barnes was excellent when driving the ball forward throughout the game, often creating dangerous situations or winning valuable free kicks.

Provided he’s not too tired, I think his performance tonight has cemented his start at Everton on Saturday.

SUBS

Hall 6

It took him a little while to settle into the game after Howe made his first batch of changes.

Newcastle struggled to hold on to any sort of possession once the substitutions have been made.

Eventually he showed why he is our best left-back winning possession on several occasions and linking well with Barnes down the left-hand side.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to fashion many real chances during his spell on the pitch but more valuable minutes for the young England left-back.

Elanga 6

Elanga’s pace unsettled the Marseille defenders at times and he had one good opportunity to bag his first Newcastle goal. However, his near post shot was read well by the Marseille goalkeeper. I think Eddie Howe would have liked more from the Swede during his time on the pitch, and we are still waiting for that standout performance since his arrival.

Miley 6

Thrown into the fray as a makeshift right back, I was a little bit concerned when Miley first came on.

However, he did his duties well and was probably aided by the fact that Marseille began to sit back more as the game wore on.

Woltemade 6

I probably would have had the German striker on a little bit earlier than when Howe decided to introduce him.

He was able to link play more effectively than Anthony Gordon who was on before him. He never really managed to get a clear-cut chance, often surrounded quickly in the Marseille box.

I understand why Howe wanted Gordon at the beginning of the game, as his pressing was key in our attacking patterns, but I expect Woltemade to return to the starting line-up at the weekend.

Ramsey 6

I’ve been quite critical of our summer signing since his arrival; however, I felt this was one of his better performances so far.

He carried the ball well and won an excellent free kick on the edge of the Marseille box which unfortunately was wasted by Sandro Tonali.

Marseille 2 Newcastle 1 – Tuesday 25 November 2025 8pm

Match Stats

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Barnes 6

Marseille:

Aubameyang 46, 50

Possession was Newcastle 43% Marseille 57%

Total shots were Newcastle 20 Marseille 18

Shots on target were Newcastle 9 Marseille 7

Corners were Newcastle 5 Marseille 11

Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 31 Marseille 26

Newcastle team v Marseille:

Pope, Livramento (Hall 60), Thiaw, Schar (Elanga 61), Burn, Willock (Ramsey 72), Bruno, Tonali, Barnes, Gordon (Woltemade 72), Murphy (Miley 60)