Newcastle suffered a damaging Champions League defeat as they were beaten 2-0 by Borussia Dortmund at Signal-Iduna Park.
Niclas Fullkrug’s goal put the Bundesliga side ahead midway through the first half and though Joelinton had chances to level things up for Newcastle, Julian Brandt’s late strike on the counter-attack ended any hope of a comeback for Eddie Howe’s side.
The result leaves Newcastle with work to do if they are to qualify for the knockout stages. They are now three points behind Dortmund with an away tie against Paris Saint-Germain up next, one that could end their hopes of progression if results do not go their way.
Howe dropped Anthony Gordon, scorer of the winner against Arsenal on Saturday, to the bench along with Miguel Almiron as the Newcastle boss was forced to use his squad. Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall had only started Carabao Cup games prior to this.
It was a test for them in the early stages as Dortmund, roared on by that huge home support, had the better of it from the outset. That period of pressure was rewarded when Marcel Sabitzer’s cut-back found the left foot of Fullkrug, who pounced to score.
Newcastle did respond and had opportunities to level it up before the interval. Joelinton failed to control the ball when put through and the tall Brazilian was then unable to get enough behind a header that was saved comfortably enough by Gregor Kobel.
But forced to open up in search of the equaliser, Newcastle were picked off. The lively Karim Adeyemi sprang the counter-attack that left Livramento up against two players. He backed off Brandt who capitalised, finishing low to Nick Pope’s left to end it as a contest.
