Newcastle defended quite well today, but had little firepower up front, and that may be the way of things through the end of the season, but an away point against a team beneath us – we’ll take it.
But with any luck up front, and with a bit more sharpness from our strikers, and with a better final ball, Newcastle could and probably should have won this game at Ewood Park today.
After the first twenty minutes Newcastle basically controlled the game, but couldn’t get the one goal that would have given them the valuable three points, rather than the draw and a single point.
While it’s better than nothing we need to start winning games like this to move away from the relegation zone.
But the good news today was that it was another clean sheet for Newcastle, and the lads got back to something like manager Pardew wanted, and that was a solid enough performance, but where exactly the goals are going to come from in the remaining 12 games is a very good question.
After just 6 minutes Enrique, who had a great game again, made a terrific run down the left wing and put in an excellent cross, and the ball went wide to Joey Barton who pulled it back to Nolan, but Kevin just couldn’t get to the ball.
But Joey had a decent enough chance to shoot, even though the angle was narrow it seemed easier to shoot than pull it back to Nolan.
And then on 10 minutes Santa Cruz should have scored when a high ball into the Newcastle area was headed back by Samba and from just six yards out, Santa Cruz headed the ball against the post, but he should really have scored.
And then after 15 minutes a terrific through ball saw Peter Lovenkrands clean through and he lifted the ball over Robinson, but the ball hit the cross-bar, and it was a glorious chance missed by the Danish striker.
The game was to and fro but the Newcastle midfield were starting to take a grip on the game, and at half time the scores were still level at 0-0, with Newcastle looking the more solid side at the interval.
And Newcastle’s dominance continued in the second half, but we just couldn’t score and that was the difference between a good three points and a rather dreary draw this afternoon.
Joey Barton had a chance early in the second half for Newcastle, after Jonas Gutierrez had done well down the left wing, but Barton’s left-foot shot sailed way over the bar
On 55 minutes Coloccini had a great drive that was tipped over the bar by Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson, and that was the nearest Newcastle came in the second half to getting a goal.
Newcastle completely dominated the first 35 minutes of the second half, and then a Pedersen corner caused a little chaos in the Newcastle penalty box, but Newcastle cleared.
But it was Newcastle’s final ball that let them down today, after having 60% possession and dominating possession, and Newcastle really should have won this game rather easily, and to us it was like 2 points lost than a point gained.
New signing Kuqi was brought on right at the end to make his debut for Newcastle United.
Blackburn though were hardly impressive today, and were booed off at the end by the home crowd.
Draws are really not what we need, and this year we have just 10 points from our 7 games, and we’ll have to see if we can win at Birmingham on Tuesday night.
Birmingham scored an injury time winner (93rd minute) this afternoon to get all 3 points against Stoke City, their second win in a row and 6 points, and are now just a couple of points behind the Magpies, and will be ahead of Newcastle if they can manage a home win on Tuesday night.
As we said, draws are not much good if you want to move up the table.
But with any luck up front, and with a bit more sharpness from our strikers, and with a better final ball, Newcastle could and probably should have won this game at Ewood Park today.
After the first twenty minutes Newcastle basically controlled the game, but couldn’t get the one goal that would have given them the valuable three points, rather than the draw and a single point.
While it’s better than nothing we need to start winning games like this to move away from the relegation zone.
But the good news today was that it was another clean sheet for Newcastle, and the lads got back to something like manager Pardew wanted, and that was a solid enough performance, but where exactly the goals are going to come from in the remaining 12 games is a very good question.
After just 6 minutes Enrique, who had a great game again, made a terrific run down the left wing and put in an excellent cross, and the ball went wide to Joey Barton who pulled it back to Nolan, but Kevin just couldn’t get to the ball.
But Joey had a decent enough chance to shoot, even though the angle was narrow it seemed easier to shoot than pull it back to Nolan.
And then on 10 minutes Santa Cruz should have scored when a high ball into the Newcastle area was headed back by Samba and from just six yards out, Santa Cruz headed the ball against the post, but he should really have scored.
And then after 15 minutes a terrific through ball saw Peter Lovenkrands clean through and he lifted the ball over Robinson, but the ball hit the cross-bar, and it was a glorious chance missed by the Danish striker.
The game was to and fro but the Newcastle midfield were starting to take a grip on the game, and at half time the scores were still level at 0-0, with Newcastle looking the more solid side at the interval.
And Newcastle’s dominance continued in the second half, but we just couldn’t score and that was the difference between a good three points and a rather dreary draw this afternoon.
Joey Barton had a chance early in the second half for Newcastle, after Jonas Gutierrez had done well down the left wing, but Barton’s left-foot shot sailed way over the bar
On 55 minutes Coloccini had a great drive that was tipped over the bar by Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson, and that was the nearest Newcastle came in the second half to getting a goal.
Newcastle completely dominated the first 35 minutes of the second half, and then a Pedersen corner caused a little chaos in the Newcastle penalty box, but Newcastle cleared.
But it was Newcastle’s final ball that let them down today, after having 60% possession and dominating possession, and Newcastle really should have won this game rather easily, and to us it was like 2 points lost than a point gained.
New signing Kuqi was brought on right at the end to make his debut for Newcastle United.
Blackburn though were hardly impressive today, and were booed off at the end by the home crowd.
Draws are really not what we need, and this year we have just 10 points from our 7 games, and we’ll have to see if we can win at Birmingham on Tuesday night.
Birmingham scored an injury time winner (93rd minute) this afternoon to get all 3 points against Stoke City, their second win in a row and 6 points, and are now just a couple of points behind the Magpies, and will be ahead of Newcastle if they can manage a home win on Tuesday night.
As we said, draws are not much good if you want to move up the table.
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