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At the end of a week of bruising, Steve Bruce recognized that it was imperative that he find a way to stop the bleeding. For Bruce, who spent the last few days trying to douse the flames of a leaked training ground feud with Matt Ritchie, avoiding defeat courtesy of a monotonous display may have been enough, but a goalless draw extended Newcastle’s penalty by run to two wins from their last 18 matches in all competitions. For West Brom, who remains installed in the last three and eight points drifting from the last safe place, this represented another missed opportunity.
Ritchie was among the substitutes here, as Bruce made three changes from last weekend’s draw at home to the Wolves, but this was a gray performance that will have done little to appease a disillusioned fan base, with the fee. of the particularly boring second half. “We’re disappointed that we didn’t win, but the only thing that was vitally important was that they didn’t beat us,” Bruce said. “With the problems we’ve had, which have been quite evident in the last five for six days, and the injuries at the top end of the field, it was always going to be quite difficult. We have a point and we move on. “
Newcastle’s trip to Fulham on the final day of the season seems to gain importance with every game. Joelinton led the line admirably but worryingly, with three league goals to his name, the last of which came in November, he was the top scorer in Newcastle’s starting lineup. Unsurprisingly, Newcastle struggled to test Sam Johnstone and in addition to a Jonjo Shelvey first goal from a corner and a Joe Willock thrashing effort from the angle, the West Brom goalkeeper enjoyed a quiet afternoon, frustrating though.
Sam Allardyce takes his team to another former club, Crystal Palace, next weekend, but he knows West Brom is running out of time to survive. “It means we have to win the next game to stay alive,” said Allardyce, who was asked to put this result in context.
Joelinton, to be fair, did a good game, but the forward was always more comfortable putting others into play than when he was aiming for goal himself. He sent a tame dribbling shot into Johnstone’s near post with 20 minutes to go, but would have presented Ryan Fraser with an early tap-in, only for Kyle Bartley to expertly intercept. Joelinton fired up the afterburners to smash the goal through after Willock slipped it, but selflessly, and perhaps due to a lack of confidence, he tried to square the ball for Fraser. On the touchline, Bruce raised his right arm in frustration.
Allardyce spent the entire first half seemingly taking cover in the house dugout, legs crossed, arms crossed, and chewing vigorously. He saw Matheus Pereira reject a goal as the winger reached the penalty spot without scoring to deflect the center of Conor Townsend and the West Brom full-back was the source of much of the initiative from the hosts. Mbaye Diagne sent a volley after Bartley beat three Newcastle defenders to launch Darnell Furlong’s long shot, but within nine minutes of the second half Matt Phillips passed arguably the best chance of the group, burning under pressure from Jamaal Lascelles after finding the low of Townsend. Cross inside the box.
At that point, Allardyce erupted in an explosion of expletives, but adopted a more philosophical tone after the match. “I sound like a record that’s stuck because I look back at the chances we’ve missed in the last four or five games, and I can’t beat the guys too much for all the effort they’ve put in, but it’s a huge disappointment not to have finished with Newcastle, ”he said. “We have started to dominate the defensive end, but in the last third we are not finishing well enough. We have been wrong so many times in terms of not converting our performance to three points. “
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Newcastle were limited to half chances by a West Brom defensive half that has kept three clean sheets in a row. Shelvey looked moderate and was too often ignored in midfield, but he sent a shot to Johnstone from a short corner, through Phillips’ knee, and the West Brom goalkeeper then repelled Willock’s billowing blow.
Dwight Gayle came in approaching the hour mark, but was left without service and Andy Carroll replaced Fraser with seconds to play, but Newcastle, at least this time, were unharmed. “It was important that we not lose here,” Bruce said. “We will take a point and move on to next week.”
