Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe admits Magpies given 'lesson' in Borussia Dortmund defeat
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe was left to rue fine margins as his side suffered a 1-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Felix Nmecha's 45th-minute strike was enough to split the teams at St James' Park but the Magpies came close on multiple occasions, hitting the crossbar twice in the closing stages through Callum Wilson and Anthony Gordon.
The duo also passed up good chances during the course of the 90 minutes with the result leaving Newcastle in third place in Group F and still have a lot of work to reach the knockout rounds for the first time in the club's history.
Howe was left to regret the missed opportunities after the game but vowed his side would learn lessons from the defeat.
“It was always going to be tight,” he said in his post-match press conference. “There are top-quality teams in the group. Tonight is a blow, especially (losing) at home. A lesson in how fine the margins are going to be.
“The ball just wouldn’t go in for us. It was one of those nights. Callum had the first chance of the second half, that was a good one and then we hit the bar twice but just couldn’t force it in.
“Credit to the players, we never gave up, we kept doing the right things. We looked like a goal threat. But we have to be at our best to win and if you dip below that, it is tough to get results at this level.
“Any mistake you make is liable to get punished. We made one and seconds later we conceded so there is stuff we could have done better and when we analyse in the cold light of day, we will take a lot.”
On a night when little went right, Howe also lost Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy to injury. The Swede's is not believed to be too serious but the English winger could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a suspected dislocated shoulder.
Elliot Anderson was also missing from the squad due to a back problem but Howe refused to blame injury issues as he urged his side to regroup.
“You look at some of the injuries, they are quite difficult to get your head around but we have to adjust,” Howe explained. “We can’t analyse too much, we have to regroup the players. We’re still in a very good position in the Premier League and Champions League.
“(The return game against Dortmund) is going to be hugely important. The next two away games, the league table looks very, very tight so they are great games for us, we have to approach them like that.
“Our lads are very honest and very focused on trying to win and achieve, there are some tired bodies and we have to recover for Wolves.”
Newcastle are back in Champions League action in two weeks' time when they travel to Dortmund for the return fixture.
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