“A heartbreaking evening for Newcastle at St James’ Park and it encapsulates their season so far. So much hard work, so much good work, a brilliant team performance let down by just a moment of madness at the end when Malik Thiaw dangled out a leg, Dani Olmo went over and Lamine Yamal tucked home from the penalty spot to give Barcelona a crucial goal.
“Eddie Howe said he was really disappointed that his team just switched off at the end, but he finds it difficult to criticise them given the energy and the effort that they put into the game.
“It looked to me like they were chasing a second with defenders Thiaw and Burns searching for a second goal to probably give them a better chance in the Nou Camp next week. They were punished for that with Yama’s penalty.
