Newcastle 1 - 1 BurnleyHome team scorersJamaal Lascelles 65
Away team scorersKarl Darlow 85 o.g.
Making his debut beneath the super blue moon lightening Tyneside’s night sky, Kenedy brightened Newcastle United up to such an extent that, for a while, Rafael Benítez’s side seemed set to record their first home Premier League victory since October.
Appropriately the Chelsea loanee created the decisive goal for Jamaal Lascelles at the end of an unexpectedly hectic transfer deadline day on Tyneside which concluded with Benítez securing the signing of the striker he want when Islam Slimani signed on loan from Leicester during the second half.
Being Newcastle things did not conclude on an altogether happy night. Instead Sean Dyche enjoyed the last laugh as Sam Vokes’s late goal, earned his Burnley side a point.
In Kenedy, Benítez had a new player in his starting lineup and the left winger started brightly and announced his arrival on Tyneside with a ferocious shot which, much to the Gallowgate End’s disappointment, was tipped onto a post by Nick Pope. Although Christian Atsu met the rebound, his left-footed follow-up shot was weak and all too easily saved by Dyche’s goalkeeper.
Significantly, Mo Diamé had been heavily involved in the preamble to that attack and, operating alongside Mikel Merino in a holding role, the Senegal midfielder appeared to be enjoying one of his better games in a black and white shirt.
Diamé helped ensure Newcastle dominated possession but Burnley are nothing if not resilient and they seemed to take a perverse delight in weathering the Geordie storm before starting to highlight vulnerabilities in Benítez’s defence.
Jamaal Lascelles has so often proved the cornerstone of that unit, but here he looked shaky in the face of Ashley Barnes’s manoeuvres, regressing to bad old habits at times. Across at left-back Paul Dummett might have conceded a penalty after a foul on Jack Cork, while Barnes had the ball in the back of the net only for that ‘goal’ to be disallowed for a push on the striker’s part. Disagreeing with Simon Hooper, the referee, Dyche clearly thought Lascelles had merely fallen over and that effort should have stood.
Newcastle, however, should have taken the lead from the penalty spot after Kenedy was brought down by Phil Bardsley in the area. Joselu stepped forward to take the kick but never looked confident ahead of a poor effort, which the diving Pope was never going to permit to reach the bottom corner.
Earlier Ciaran Clark had missed a highly inviting headed chance which felt strangely emblematic of the numerous opportunities Benítez’s players have created but failed to convert in recent weeks. Slimani cannot pull his boots on a moment too soon.
The bad news for Dyche is that he must cope without Steven Defour for the next couple of months after Burnley’s star creator underwent knee surgery this week.From Kenedy’s corner Joselu might have scored but instead headed over from six yards. At the other end Barnes should have scored but curled a left-footed shot fractionally off target after the striker had given Lascelles the slip. It is safe to assume Newcastle’s captain will not want to meet Burnley’s centre forward again in a hurry.
Dyche had increasing reason for cautious optimism. In an effort to shatter the impasse Burnley’s manager introduced Aaron Lennon.
Only a splendid tackle from Dummett’ came between Johann Berg-Gudmundsson and a visiting goal. Maybe it was a sign that Benítez’s luck was changing as, minutes after the news finally came through that Slimani had not only been given a clean bill of health but actually signed on the dotted line, Lascelles redeemed himself by scoring a potentially priceless goal.
Another Kenedy corner was met by the defender who out-jumped all comers before powering a header beyond the suddenly helpless Pope.
Time remained for Joselu to miss a sitter. It would prove deeply costly as, when Vokes connected with a corner, Karl Darlow initially tipped his header onto the bar only to end up pushing it into his own net.
Guardian
