After seeing the teams on the way to the field, it was evident that Pep lied and Eddie did not. With three of his usual starting defense, one was still taking this game seriously. The other drew Paul Dummett from the deep freeze and challenged him to a game against the English and European champions. Miley in the middle, J7 in the back, and Jacob Murphy out to show us that Milan was just rustiness.
After seeing the teams on the way to the field, it was evident that Pep lied and Eddie did not. With three of his usual starting defense, one was still taking this game seriously. The other drew Paul Dummett from the deep freeze and challenged him to a game against the English and European champions. Miley in the middle, J7 in the back, and Jacob Murphy out to show us that Milan was just rustiness.
In the first half, Newcastle were a little too reserved. Murphy seems befuddled without Trippier to direct him. He didn’t want to follow Ake, but he also didn’t want to stay wide with Grealish. At the moment, there was an overload down that side. However, a midfield that had never played together before showed real bite. Eddie’s Mags had their physical presence back, and Joelinton’s homecoming couldn’t have come at a better moment.
Tino Livramento will want every single video of this whole home debut. The young man was incredible. I didn’t understand the haste to get him before, but I do now. All that concern over Trippier’s absence, nights like tonight demonstrate that we have an excellent backup. He marked Grealish out of the game so well that when Doku came on, he swapped. Unfortunately, we lost out on Miggy’s opportunity to retaliate.
He was superb with the cross he dug out from in front of the Leazes after running the length of the East Stand. He deserved to be named man of the match on Sky. When Nunes came in for a one-on-one near the finish, he crushed him but knocked the ball out of play.
At halftime, I’m sure many of us would have said, “Well, it’s level, and we’ve had the best chance.” Isak slid Murphy in, and he ran towards the keeper, but kept his head down, even though squaring it would have resulted in a one-nil score. Isak was enraged, hopping around and pounding his long limbs against the ground.
Gordon and Bruno replaced Hall and Miley in the second half. Miley hadn’t done anything wrong for me, but here was a second chance. Hall had tried left wing and left back, but neither position worked for him. If he needs to know how long it can take to adapt, the boy who replaced him is all too aware.
