Newcastle United and Espanyol battled it out at St James' Park as the Magpies kickstarted a weekend of football on Tyneside
Aaron Stokes is our Newcastle United Editor. Born and bred in the north-east, Aaron left Newcastle in 2017 to work in London for Reach PLC's national titles. After five years in the capital, he returned to take up his current role at The Chronicle in March 2022.
Newcastle United's wait for a pre-season win continues as they were denied victory thanks to a late Espanyol equaliser at St James' Park.
A Edu Exposito screamer left Newcastle debutant Aaron Ramsdale well beaten in the first-half, before Matt Targett popped up at the opposite end to level the tie shortly after.
Jacob Murphy capitalised on a defensive mishap towards the business end of the second-half, netting what he thought to be the winner in the 78th-minute. However, there was one last twist in the tale as Ramsdale was beaten by a close range Kike Garcia header to make it 2-2 in the closing stages.
Here's five things we learned from the first of two men's clashes on Tyneside this weekend.
Newcastle fail to win again
Fans don't take too much notice of pre-season results. They're too busy pre-occupying themselves with transfer gossip.... But a win on Friday evening would have raised some spirits - both inside and outside the club.
Eddie Howe and his players will very much have wanted to get a win on the board this evening after failing to beat Celtic, Arsenal, a K-League XI and Tottenham Hotspur so far this summer.
The boss opted for a mix of youth and experience as the likes of Dan Burn and Fabian Schar started at the heart of the defence, while Lewis Miley and 18-year-old summer signing, Park Seung-soo, were used from the outset higher up the pitch.
With another game at this venue on Saturday, you can understand why some of the big guns were left at home.
But the pressure is now on to get a victory against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, who are a step above their Spanish counterparts in terms of ability...
A surprise transfer success
Newcastle United's summer struggles in the transfer market need no going over... but Eddie Howe was still able to field two St James' Park debutants against Espanyol.
Aaron Ramsdale started the clash in goal after enjoying just two days of training with his new co-stars this week. At the opposite end of the pitch there was a start for 18-year-old attacker Park Seung-soo in front of his new supporters.
The Korean teen, just 18, impressed onlookers during two clashes out in his homeland last week and there is talk he could be kept in and around the first-team this season.
Seung-soo is highly thought of following his exploits for Suwon Bluewings in recent seasons and has made a big impact in a short time since joining Newcastle. He certainly looked bright as he danced through Espanyol defenders, constantly wanted the ball and showed a willingness to drive forward with it.
It is perhaps a surprise transfer success that Howe wasn't anticipating at this stage of the player's journey in England, with his signing initially approved with the future very much in mind.
His impressive pre-season perhaps smacks of Trevan Sanusi, who was the stand out youngster this time last year only to be held back in the youth setup. It will be intriguing to see how much game time Seung-soo receives in the upcoming campaign.
Ramsdale heroics
Aaron Ramsdale played the entire 90 minutes as he enjoyed his first appearance as a United player.
After being caught out by a long-range screamer by Edu Exposito early in the tie, Ramsdale guessed right to deny Espanyol captain Javier Puado soon after. His stop earned, arguably, the biggest cheer of the evening, despite Matt Targett's surprise goal at the Gallowgate.
Moments before Espanyol's eventual equaliser, Ramsdale tipped a long-range effort, bound for the top corner, around the post to earn applause from the 30,000-plus inside the stadium. However, his evening would end picking the ball out of the back of the net following a Kike Garcia header.
Nick Pope will feature in the second St James' Park clash of the weekend but as for who starts the season opener at Villa Park - and beyond - is anyone's guess. Ramsdale, you suspect, will fancy his chances at giving his England counterpart a very good run for his money this season.
Newcastle goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale saves a penalty kick from Javier Puado
Defensive switch
Eddie Howe's first teamsheet of the season on home soil caused a little bit of confusion before kick-off. This, due to the fact five defenders - Emil Krafth, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Lewis Hall and Matt Targett - were named in the starting XI.
How could it be five at the back when Emil Krafth was the only recognised right-back on the pitch? Was Dan Burn set to play alongside Schar and one of the two remaining defenders in a back three? Who, out of Targett and Hall, would be at left-back?
As the game got under way, Howe's experiment quickly became clear. It was Krafth at right-back, a partnership of Schar and Burn at the heart of the defence, and Hall was out at left-back. Targett, to the surprise of everyone, was occupying an advanced role on the left of a midfield three, alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Miley.
Just days after a cruel, utterly bizarre and unfortunately viral social media joke suggested Targett had inexplicably been left in South Korea while his team-mates flew home, the left-back-turned-midfielder rose highest to head home an equaliser midway through the opening period.
Hall would go on to be replaced at half-time, while it is expected Tino Livramento, Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman could feature in the backline against Atletico.
Newcastle players Will Osula (l) and Lewis Hall (r)
Striker watch
There was no sign of Alexander Isak, as expected, on Friday evening, with the Swede also expected to miss the game the second Sela Weekender clash of the weekend.
As such, another opportunity was afforded to William Osula as the young striker led the line yet again for the Magpies.
It has been an unproductive summer period for the Dane, who has put himself about but failed to notch in any games since being handed additional responsibility at the tip of Howe's attack.
There's still a lot to like - and once again Osula grafted and grafted all evening, as he has done all summer - but the fact he could be the starting striker for Newcastle in the Premier League next week will not fill the fanbase with too much hope.
The need for a new striker remains evident. Or even the return of a certain absent forward would do the trick....