'Huge' Newcastle United injury boost & fresh concern as Man Utd take advantage

Newcastle United suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Wednesday night to dent their European hopes.

A second-half brace from Jean-Philippe Mateta saw Palace claim a third successive Premier League win as Newcastle dropped to seventh in the table with their four-game unbeaten run coming to an end at Selhurst Park.

Here are five talking points from the game...

‘Huge’ injury boost for Newcastle United as Callum Wilson returns

For the first time in over two months, Newcastle went into the game with two senior strikers part of the matchday squad. Alexander Isak started up front as expected with Eddie Howe naming an unchanged starting line-up from the side that beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 10 days earlier.

There was a welcome boost on the bench with Callum Wilson back involved following a pectoral injury.

With United trailing 1-0 in the second half, Wilson came onto the pitch in place of Harvey Barnes for the final 25 minutes but wasn’t able to help turn the match in his side’s favour. During his time on the pitch, Wilson had seven touches of the ball and didn’t register a shot as Newcastle struggled in front of goal all evening.

But Howe was pleased to have the ‘rare luxury’ of Wilson’s presence on the bench.

“It's huge,” said The Magpies boss. “He's a big player for us and to have that option from the bench is a rare luxury to have a striker to come on and make a difference and I thought he did.

“For our performance I thought he did well, he looked fresh, he looked strong and has come through the game without any problems.”

Wilson has scored eight goals for Newcastle so far this season despite limited game time. He will be hoping to make an impact in the final five games.

10-day break works against Newcastle United?

Palace’s quick turnaround from the weekend compared to Newcastle’s 10-day gap between games actually went in favour of the home side as they looked the more sharp and dangerous side from the early stages.

Howe even suggested the break for his side harmed their performance at Selhurst Park as they failed to register a shot on target until a tame Elliot Anderson header in the 86th minute. It was also the first time United had failed to score in a Premier League match since the 1-0 defeat at Luton Town in December.

Howe opted with the same system and players that proved so effective against Spurs yet on this occasion it had the complete opposite impact as the players looked sluggish and struggled to contain Palace.

But Howe defended his system and instead felt it was the execution and attitude of his players that was the issue on Wednesday night.

“After the win against Tottenham we were prepared to go the same way,” he said. “I thought tactically the game would suit us that way.

“I have no issue doing so but our execution has to be better than that. Our execution against Tottenham was of the highest level, tonight it wasn’t. “Trying to find a way to help the team in any way we can so yes we made substitutions and tactical tweaks [during the game] but as always when you talk tactically it is about the attitude of the group first and foremost.

“If you’re not quite wherever you need to be mentally then it doesn’t matter what you do tactically, you’re going to fall down and I thought that was where we were today.”

Tino Livramento’s absence explained

After playing winger Jacob Murphy at right-back against Spurs, many would have expected Tino Livramento to come back into the Newcastle side at Palace. But the 21-year-old wasn’t just named on the bench, he failed to get on the pitch even with United struggling.

Murphy’s defensive naivety was exposed in the build-up to the opening goal. He invited pressure onto Newcastle’s back line before playing the ball to Emil Krafth - who had little other choice other than to hoof it aimlessly downfield as Palace regained possession and scored from the resulting attack.

But Howe explained that Livramento is still feeling the effects of his ankle injury picked up at Chelsea last month and was essentially only named on the bench to make up the numbers.

“Tino Livramento is still struggling with his ankle, hence why he didn’t come on the pitch,” Howe said. “He was there really for an emergency so we’ve been training with 12-13 players in the last 10 days.

“He’s technically fit enough to enter the pitch but sort of high risk, and we want to make sure we don’t give him a longer-term problem.”

VAR does not help Newcastle on this occasion

Newcastle had a late penalty shout turned down with the score still at 1-0. Sean Longstaff was pulled down inside the area by Will Hughes but referee Tom Bramall waved away the visitors’ appeals.

A quick VAR check confirmed the Palace midfielder had pulled Longstaff but the contact was not deemed sufficient to intervene and overturn the on-field decision, something Howe had no major complaints about.

“I thought [it was a penalty] live, but after watching it again it's probably a 50/50 call and it's gone against us,” he admitted.

“It's one of those decisions where if the referee gives the penalty he doesn't overturn it.”

The decision went against The Magpies and Mateta added to their misery by adding a second in the 88th minute.

Battle for Europe takes another turn as Manchester United take advantage

Wednesday night will be chalked up as a missed opportunity for Newcastle as they dropped below Manchester United in the table. Seventh will likely be enough for Europa Conference League football unless Man United dropped out of the European places.

But Newcastle’s failure to capitalise on Chelsea and West Ham United’s recent defeats only puts more pressure on the final five games with bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United, who gave Man United a scare on Wednesday, next up at St James’ Park on Saturday.