Newcastle United have suffered their second 1–4 defeat of this Premier League season under manager c – and have thus missed out on a place in fourth.
It’s a tight race in the Premier League, where just three points separate fourth and twelfth place. So tight, in fact, that Matthias Jaissle and Newcastle United could have moved up to fourth place at the end of matchday 6 with a win away at newly promoted Coventry City – their third victory of the season.
Could have! But things turned out differently. Instead, the Magpies suffered a 1–4 defeat at the hands of a side that had previously scored just a single, meagre goal all season – and now netted four in one go. Jack Rudoni, Sidiki Cherif, Ellis Simms and Stephen Mfuni were the goalscorers for head coach Frank Lampard’s side – three of them were scoring their very first Premier League goals, whilst for Simms it was already his second. Newcastle’s Sven Botman’s spectacular long-range strike to make it 1–2 at one stage was not enough to turn the tide.
Having conceded 13 goals, Newcastle currently share the league’s worst defence with Chelsea FC and AFC Bournemouth. “We need to improve the things we can influence. And there are quite a few of those at the moment,” Jaissle made very clear when speaking to Sky after the match, and he went on to criticise the performance further on the club’s internal channels: “It’s frustrating. We can only apologise to the fans who made the long journey.” Ultimately, the performance simply wasn’t good enough to “pick up points in the Premier League”.
Not the first thrashing of the season
Jaissle moved from Saudi Arabia to the Premier League in the summer and took over as manager of the Magpies from Eddie Howe, who had previously stepped down. Six league matches have passed since then, with only two wins in England’s top flight. There was also a 1–4 thrashing at Leeds United. All in all, that is not enough for a club that played in the Champions League last season.
And the challenges are not getting any easier. Next up is Champions League participants and Europa League winners Aston Villa, who visit St James’ Park this coming Saturday (6.30 pm), before an away trip to reigning Conference League winners Crystal Palace. By then, the defence, led by German international Malick Thiaw, should be starting to find its feet.
