Eddie Howe on the touchline during Newcastle United's defeat to Everton.placeholder image
Eddie Howe on the touchline during Newcastle United's defeat to Everton. | Getty Images
Newcastle United faced Qarabag for a dead rubber 24 hour after Everton hosted Manchester United in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe has claimed the Champions League campaign is directly impacting Newcastle United’s Premier League season.
The Magpies crumbled 3-2 to Everton at St James’ Park, conceding a Thierno Barry winner seconds after Jacob Murphy’s leveller. This was a repeat of the first-half failures, with Jacob Ramsey’s equaliser swiftly cancelled out by Beto.
Boos echoed around the ground at the full-time whistle as Newcastle’s hopes for European qualification slipped further away. As it stands, the Magpies sit 12th - but that could drop to 14th come 6pm tomorrow.
‘Perils of Europe’ - Eddie Howe
Howe believes there is a direct correlation between Newcastle competing in Europe and struggling to perform at Premier League level. But on today, Everton faced Manchester United just 24 hours before the Magpies hosted a dead rubber against Qarabag.
"Certainly with relation to the Premier League, our form for a while has not been strong enough, not been good enough,” Howe said. “We know that and take responsibility for that. It is really frustrating for us and that is the perils of Europe.
"We have tried to be laser-focused on every game. We have given every attention to every game with the same importance. But with a deluge of games, your focus can be swayed. Our Premier League return in recent weeks has been nowhere near the level it has been historically.
"Our home form has been so reliable (historically), but it has tailed off, and we have to grab that back as quickly as possible. When we are playing here, we want this to be the place where we pick up the most points and a place where players feel free to play and through our own performances that hasn't been the case."
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‘Difficult to give an explanation’ - Eddie Howe
Howe was asked why Newcastle fumbled after doing the hard yards to pull level. He responded: “It’s really difficult to give an explanation for that. We've worked so hard to get back into the game twice, as you say. Everton are a tough team to score against. Having to chase the game, you spend a lot of energy doing that and we hurt ourselves.
“I think there were some uncharacteristic errors on both goals. I think the second goal in particular probably affects us mentally as well because I don't think we played particularly well after that. It was a real spell at the beginning of the second half when we scored, where we were the dominant team and playing well.”
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