St James’ Park was full and beery, a place in the last-16 of the Champions League was at stake and Eddie Howe went big with his team selection, all of which was a footballing mirage. Clutching a commanding 6-1 lead from the first leg of their play-off against Qarabag, Newcastle United wallowed in an occasion entirely lacking in jeopardy which, in this crammed, antsy and angst-ridden season, represented a rare luxury. It also felt abnormal.
Was it fun? Was it dull? Slightly too haphazard to be wholly business-like, was it an epic mismatch on the grandest stage? It was not easy to tell, but in parts yes, yes and yes. Tension has touched everything since Newcastle’s difficult and disfigured summer, the fixture list has not allowed them a free week since August (not including international breaks), and every game has had something riding on it. There have been no gimmes.
Newcastle got the job done early and then had a lovely little nap. They had scored twice in the opening eight minutes in Baku and they did the same here in six through Sandro Tonali and a smart volley from Joelinton. That made the aggregate score 8-1, at which point it was difficult to maintain the pretence that the tie wasn’t over. It brought a non-threatening sort of challenge: how do you ease back without switching off?
Instead of shutting the game down, Howe’s players half shut their eyes, which irritated a fastidious head coach. “The problem we had was going 2-0 up so early,” he told reporters afterwards. “It was almost a dangerous feeling for us, that this game was dead, because we were really determined to win. We didn’t show the urgency we needed to go and get more goals and we paid for that. We became disjointed. So there’s a lot to improve on.”
Tonali, whose influence is steadily returning after a dip in form, said something similar. “It was a very great game for the first 10 minutes, but I’m not very happy with the second-half because we had to do more,” the Italian told Amazon Prime. “These fans deserve 100 per cent for 90 minutes, every game.”
Joelinton volleys in Newcastle’s second goal of the evening (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Yet it was also understandable, if only from a human point of view. It is not accurate to say that anxiety suits Newcastle, but it has been a constant, nagging companion since August and the absence of it drained something from a team which, at its best, plays on the edge with fury and velocity. In the second-half, Qarabag got one goal back – “stupid,” Tonali called it – and then another, sandwiching a towering header from Sven Botman. It got niggly and messy.
For Nick Woltemade, the Germany forward, signed at great expense six months ago, there was an inconsequential performance in his reshaped role in midfield. “It was probably the least he’s affected the game in the time that he’s played in that position,” Howe said. “There were some really good bits in amongst that and it was a new challenge for him, something he’s going to have to overcome. We want him to score goals. We don’t want him too far away from goal.”
Smaller picture, Newcastle wiped their feet on their way out of the tie. Bigger picture, after an overwhelming aggregate victory, they are in the last-16 of the most prestigious club competition around. An overheard conversation between two supporters leaving the stadium went something like this: “We made hard work of that;” “We won 9-3,” an exchange which was both vaguely contradictory and entirely accurate on both sides.
Newcastle are in the knockout phase proper for the first time in their history and even if they cruised and then coasted, it is a significant staging post for a club with designs on winning everything. “It is a massive achievement for us,” Howe said. “Nothing has been given to us. It’s a great thing for our season, there’s a positive feel. I believe we can raise our game and compete with anybody. We want to go as far as we can and why not?”
Howe cut no corners and took zero chances. For a long time, Newcastle’s unofficial club motto might as well have been “If something can go wrong, it will,” and his team selection managed to be both bold and conservative. Bold because its strength felt like statement of intent and it included two players who were one booking away from a suspension. Conservative because he resisted the urge to experiment.
Ultimately, Newcastle’s fast start put the game to bed, Joelinton and Dan Burn avoided the yellow cards which would have automatically ruled them out of the first leg against either Barcelona or Chelsea – the draw is made on Friday – and they avoided injury. Howe characterised it differently. “I had to put 11 players out on the pitch,” he said. “With Malick (Thiaw) suspended, I had to play Dan. You’ve just got to play the game. We’ve got a really fragile squad at the moment.”
What do you learn from a game without peril? Howe rejected the basis for that question, too. “There’s only a lack of tension because of how we played in that first leg,” he said. “I saw Chelsea go to Qarabag and draw (2-2 in November), and it was a really even game. There was nothing in it, so I think you have to give us credit for winning when we win. We’re well prepared to take criticism when we don’t. We made it look easy with our professionalism.”
Fair enough. Newcastle’s six victories in the Champions League is the most by any English manager in a single season, which is something worth recording, and any win is worth celebrating, even the strange ones. And, in any case, tension will return soon enough if only because Newcastle have big games to play. It is precisely where they want to be, even if getting there has arduous.