Newcastle United 1-1 Norwich City
by Harry De Cosemo
at St  James’ Park

TEN-MAN Newcastle United’s winless start to the Premier League season continued after they battled to a 1-1 draw with fellow relegation battlers Norwich City at St James’ Park.

The game was billed as a must-win for The Magpies, who stay six points adrift of safety with another struggling side, Burnley, visiting the north-east on Saturday. Progress under new boss Eddie Howe was again evident, but victories are the currency he needs.

He remains cautiously optimistic his side can still avoid the drop this season.

“I think there are wins in the team,” he told reporters after the game. “We needed to improve our defensive resilience and I thought we did, but there is more improvement to come.

“The attacking side suffered tonight with the red card but we do have goals in the team. I believe we can (survive) and it is still in our hands, but obviously with every game we don’t win it becomes harder.”

The sense of nervous anticipation before the game felt palpable, but home expectation turned to desolation within nine minutes when Ciaran Clark’s error was pounced on by Teemu Pukki. He panicked and brought the Finn down as he closed in on goal, leaving the referee with little choice but to brandish the red card.

Any attacking intent Howe wanted to instil had to be curbed, as did the fervour in the Tyneside air. Suddenly, with Ryan Fraser sacrificed for Federico Fernandez to maintain the back four, it was backs to the wall on Newcastle’s big night.

Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson were left isolated in attack, the latter cutting a frustrated figure as his intoxicating energy and impact became fleeting and his defensive shortcomings more exposed.

Joelinton’s resurgence has been one of the more unexpected but intriguing by-products of the fresh start at Newcastle, and he stood tall once again, epitomising the dogged determination his side exuded.

Norwich struggled to use the man advantage and all the possession it afforded to good use, lacking purpose with the ball and failing to really test Martin Dubravka.

That didn’t improve in the second half, either, and Newcastle took full advantage. Fernandez and Fabian Schar looked calm and assured at the back, and their play going forward became much more coherent.

Just before the hour, appeals for a handball from Jonjo Shelvey’s corner resulted in a VAR check from which Newcastle were given a penalty.

Wilson stepped up and converted despite Tim Krul getting a strong hand to it, and St James’ Park found its voice again.

Substitute Isaac Hayden almost added a crucial second goal when he latched onto Wilson’s rather innocuous and failed attempt to win a corner. Krul lost his bearings, but the ball could only flash agonisingly along the goal line.

Gradually, Norwich began to find their feet and with 11 minutes remaining, they were level. Pukki’s immaculately timed volley found the top corner after Dubravka’s poor clearance from a cross was played back into the area.

The Canaries laid siege against tired Newcastle legs and while they almost won it through Pierre Lees-Melou in stoppage time, both sides had to settle for a point they deserved but didn’t want.