Howe left disappointed by 'missed opportunity' as Newcastle slip up in race for European football

Newcastle United Head Coach Eddie Howe admits he was disappointed by his side's Premier League defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.

The Magpies lost two nil away at Selhurst Park on Wednesday evening (April 24), ending their four-match unbeaten run and damaging their prospects of securing European football for next season in the process.

Speaking after full-time, the Newcastle boss admitted his team had not performed as he had hoped.

Howe acknowledged: “Yeah, very disappointed with the performance.

“We were disappointed with most aspects of our play. We have to take responsibility for that."

Crystal Palace were dominant from the off with Eberechi Eze pulling the strings after he flashed an early effort wide before he set up Jean-Philippe Mateta for a chance that he headed over.

It remained goalless until half-time but Mateta changed that in the 55th minute when he slid home after a slick one-two with Jordan Ayew.

That goal made it five consecutive home games where Mateta has scored and while Newcastle pushed for a leveller, being denied a 76th-minute penalty when Sean Longstaff went down in the area after a slight pull by Will Hughes, Palace made the points safe with two minutes left.

Hughes exchanged passes with substitute Jeffrey Schlupp before he teed up Mateta, who scuffed through the legs of Martin Dubravka for his 14th goal in all competitions this season.

Newcastle went into the match fresh after a 10-day break and after three wins from their last four, but produced a sluggish display to lose ground in the battle for a top-six finish with Manchester United.

Eddie Howe added: “Maybe the gap between games didn’t help us on reflection but still, we knew it was there and we had to perform better than we did.

“It was a missed opportunity.”

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