Newcastle United 0-1 Borussia Dortmund: Crossbar foils Magpies in first Champions League defeat
Newcastle United fell to their first Champions League defeat of the season as Borussia Dortmund emerged 1-0 winners at a soggy St James' Park.
Felix Nmecha's cool strike on the stroke of half-time was enough to split the sides as the Magpies spurned multiple opportunities to get a goal of their own - hitting the crossbar twice in the closing stages.
The result leaves the Tyneside club in third place in Group F at the halfway stage with plenty of work still to do if they want to reach the knockout stages of the competition for the first time.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe called on fans to replicate the intensity felt at St James' Park during the 4-1 thrashing of PSG and they did not disappoint.
A "Wor Flags" display welcomed the teams to the field as the Champions League anthem blared.
The action matched the intensity of the atmosphere from the very start. Within the first two minutes, Donyell Malen and Anthony Gordon both fashioned clear shooting opportunities, forcing Nick Pope and Gregor Kobel into strong saves.
The frantic, end-to-end nature of the encounter showed no signs of letting up with both keepers again forced into action just seven minutes later.
Pope saved from Malen before reacting quickly to deny Niclas Füllkrug on the rebound with an excellent reaction stop. Newcastle broke from the resulting corner and Gordon fired straight at Kobel when sent through one-on-one by Alexander Isak despite being under little pressure from the Dortmund defence.
However, that was to be the Swede's last meaningful impact on proceedings. The 24-year-old, featuring against his former club, limped off with an injury to be replaced by Callum Wilson just 15 minutes in.
Malen was a thorn in the Magpies' side, firing over from distance before having attempts blocked by Jamaal Lascelles and Dan Burn.
But Dortmund had some of their other stars to thank as they made the breakthrough at the very end of the first half. Nico Schlotterbeck dispossessed Gordon on the halfway line before driving at the heart of the Newcastle defence.
His cutback found Nmecha at the edge of the penalty box and the German international finished brilliantly, flattening the atmosphere within St James' Park.
It was the first time the Magpies' had fallen behind in the competition this season with Howe facing a big half-time team talk to inspire a reaction from his players.
The second half took some time to get going but burst into life in the 57th minute. Fabian Schär's challenge went straight into the feet of Wilson who received the ball again eight yards out after playing a one-two with Gordon.
But Kobel stood firm, instinctively stopping the ball with his leg to deny the English striker who appeared to have the goal at his mercy.
Seconds later, Gordon had a shot of his own deflected wide as the Magpies fought to get back in the game.
Howe made changes as he looked to build momentum. Sandro Tonali entered the action for potentially the last time this season but there was disappointment for Jacob Murphy who was forced off with a shoulder issue just five minutes after coming on.
Joe Willock was his replacement, making his own comeback from injury after missing the entire season.
Newcastle continued to push for the equaliser and Wilson came agonisingly close again as his glancing header struck the bar with four minutes to go.
There was still time for the crossbar to deny Newcastle again too. Gordon's last-minute strike was deflected by Sebastien Haller but hit the woodwork with Kobel stranded.
A disappointing night for the Magpies who still have it all to do in the second half of the group stage campaign.
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