We asked Mark Jankowski to give us his match ratings and player comments after Newcastle 3 Qarabag 2.
Ramsdale 7
Looked comfortable on the ball as always and made a smart stop from the Qarabag penalty.
Trippier 8
A good captain’s performance from Trippier.
He put in a handful of excellent crosses including the corner for Botman’s goal.
Botman 8
Played the first half on the right side of the centre back pairing before moving to his more natural left in the second.
A beautiful towering header for our 3rd.
Burn 6
One thing I’ve learned tonight is Dan Burn should never play on the right side of centre back again.
He was solid in the first half but was a shambles when he switched with Botman in the second half.
Alex Murphy 8
A full debut the young man won’t forget.
Started the game at left back before moving to a central position after Botman’s removal.
Looked stronger at left back, but overall he played very well, albeit in a low stakes game.
Joelinton 8
I thought Big Joe was magnificent on his return to the starting line up today.
His physicality was unmatched and he drove forward with the ball with purpose whenever he had the chance.
His finish was the pick of the bunch tonight.
Tonali 8 (MOTM)
Put a shift in again, especially in the second half where Tonali made more than one lung busting recovery run when his teammates were loose with the ball.
Woltemade 7
Played very well in the first half.
Maybe a bit less effective in the second half but he was often sold short by passes from teammates.
Should have had an assist but Jacob Murphy squandered the chance.
Jacob Murphy 7
Speaking of Jacob Murphy, apart from the aforementioned squandered chance he actually played a solid game.
He whipped in several good balls and ran hard both in attack and later in defence.
Osula 6
He was unlucky not to open the scoring, Tonali was the eventual beneficiary of the keeper’s excellent stop from Osula’s header.
Unfortunately, he struggled to get into the game, and a second half switch out wide didn’t help improve his fortunes either.
Barnes 7
Wasn’t massively involved in the majority of the first half but always comes alive around the box.
He bagged an assist for Joelinton’s goal and was unlucky not to have scored himself with a couple of decent efforts.
Subs
Willock 6
Not much to report on Willock’s night.
He made a handful of good runs but also had some moments where he lost momentum in the final third.
Hall 6
A little bit causal from Hall at times tonight but I think the situation of the game was the biggest factor in that.
He got a decent rest ahead of some important fixtures.
Gordon 8
Gordon showed the most intent of any of the players who came on tonight.
The fact he’s in the hunt for the golden boot probably played some part in that but Gordon does look back to his menacing best ahead of Everton at the weekend.
Wissa 6
An uneventful display from Wissa.
Eddie Howe will have been glad to get minutes back into his legs going into the final stretch of the season.