**Palace away.**
One of those weekends where Palace away paraphrased the Oleta Adams lyric, _“I don’t care how you get here, get here if you can.”_
No trains in to Kings Cross so that meant travel disruption for the travellers. However, “get here they did. Car, random train route or flight. Everyone seemed to have managed. It’s what we do.
Random start to the day for Mrs W and I when we checked in to our hotel to find Sewpa and his syrup staying here with his AFC Fylde team. No doubt to the horror of his former fans, he wished us well!
A couple of changes to the starting 11 with Tonali and Burn replacing Longstaff and Kelly respectively. Summer target Guehi starting for Palace. Cracking day for it as well at a nearly tropical 14 degrees!!!
First impressions, very strange/mixed away end. Big group of Irish lads in front of us in the queue. Fair ballot though aye?
The first half of “football” was probably the lowest quality I’ve seen this season to date. Very little of note from our side. Isak taken out and not deemed a foul. Ultimately ended his afternoon to be replaced by Barnes, who in fairness looks sharp with the ball. However, I’d have been happier to see Joelinton hooked, Wilson introduced and Gordon on the left.
Palace conjured the best attack of the half. We are attacking, they hit us with a very good counter, which they duly wasted. Huge let off.
As a side note, why do we continue to make Hughes look like prime Iniesta? Derby, Watford and Palace. Always excels against us for some reason.
Hate to say it, but we get no link up between Tonali and Bruno. Only once in the first half. Can it work? I’m really not sure.
The second half saw possibly our only bit of quality football of the afternoon. A well worked free kick on the right side of the box ending up with Gordon smashing it goalwards . The bsll then seemingly coming off Guehi and ending up in the back of the net. Surely a time to press home the advantage, but no. We continued to gift Palace possession and chances that they duly wasted whilst creating nothing of note ourselves. Our left side in particular looking clueless.
Gordon and Willock eventually made way for Wilson and Gordon and for the first time in the game we seemed to have some level of control on the game. The majority of the final 10 being played out in their half and us looking like we’d see it out comfortably.
That’s not the Newcastle United way though is it. 5 minutes stoppage time was midway through when we allowed an easy ball in to the box. Missed by everyone and leaving Munoz with a free header which he duly planted in the net.
Gutted, along with the other 3k here who’d given the team very good backing throughout, despite having next to nothing to cheer. A real shane but little surprise at a place we seldom seem to win.
2 games in a week that people thought were a shoe in for 6 points that ultimately yielded 1. Far more questions that. Answers regarding formations and the suitability of some players to the positions they are asked to play.
Is the unlikely task of beating Liverpool on Wednesday now becoming quite critical to our season? I’d suggest it is.
**Steve Wallwork – @SteveWallwork.bysky.social**