Newcastle United winger Anthony Elangaplaceholder image
Newcastle United winger Anthony Elanga | Getty Images
Anthony Elanga's brace at the Camp Nou was in vain as Newcastle United capitulated to Barcelona in the second half.
Anthony Elanga has vowed that Newcastle United players will fight “for the city” against Sunderland this weekend.
A wave of optimism on Tyneside burst last night as the Magpies were thrashed 7-2 by Barcelona. Newcastle held their own in the first half, with Elanga scoring twice to level the tie.
However, a brain fade from Kieran Trippier on the stroke of half-time gave a penalty away. That opened the floodgates, with four second-half strikes sealing a comfortable win for the Catalans.
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Anthony Elanga sends Sunderland message
Speaking to TNT Sports, Toon winger Elanga insisted they need to repay the fans with a win against Sunderland on Sunday. When asked if the team need to put Barca behind them, he said: “We have to. For the fans who travelled here and sang for 90 minutes even when we were five or six goals down, we owe them. We can’t dwell on this. We’ll look at the mistakes, but tomorrow morning the focus has to switch entirely to Sunday.
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“That’s a game for the city, and we have to show a reaction. We have to be honest - they (Barcelona) were better. They changed gears, definitely. They started moving the ball much faster, and the penalty just before half-time was a massive blow. We are a growing team and this is a massive learning curve. It’s a painful one, the most painful of my career so far, but we have to take it on the chin.”
Anthony Elanga downplays brace
It was a case of “what could have been” for Elanga last night. He has struggled to impress since joining for £55million last summer.
Despite scoring two goals, his efforts will now be overlooked by the second-half capitulation - typical of Elanga’s career on Tyneside so far. On his two goals, the 23-year-old said: “Individual milestones don’t mean much when you’re out of the competition. I’d trade both goals for a win or even just a closer result. The first goal was about the space - we knew their line would be high.
“The second, I just tried to stay alert when the ball fell loose. But like I said, those goals don’t matter now. We failed as a unit in the second half. It’s hard to find words right now, to be honest. It’s a shame we lost in the manner we did. We came here with a plan and, for the first 45 minutes, I think everyone saw that we were firmly in the game.
“We matched them, we transitioned well, and we showed we belong at this level. But at this level, if you switch off for ten minutes, teams like Barcelona don’t just beat you - they punish you until there's nothing left.”
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