Newcastle 4 Luton Town 4
Newcastle welcomed Luton Town to St James’ Park with the visitors in good form of late. Three wins in their last five games had seen Rob Edwards’ side move out of the bottom three. With Everton having drawn earlier in the day, they would need points to repeat that feat.
Eddie Howe’s side began this game with no recognised striker due to injuries, so Anthony Gordon was to play through the middle. It did not take The Magpies long before a Kieran Trippier cross found Sean Longstaff in the box who slotted home to give them the lead after only seven minutes.
The Hatters have never been a team to lie down and accept defeat, today was to be no different. As a free kick was played into the box Morris headed it across goal and Osho scored as his effort hit the underside of the bar and sent the away end into raptures.
St James’ Park fell silent like they had just heard that Sunderland had been taken over by Saudis ten times richer than their owners. Gordon then broke down the left and as he cut inside and shot, Luton’s keeper could only parry it and Longstaff was there to drive home his second of the game.
Credit: @LutonTown
The visitors had only been level for ninety seconds before The Magpies had restored their lead. They continued to press and Barkley broke through the middle to feed Doughty. His cross come shot was parried by Dubravka, straight to Barkley, who controlled it and slammed the ball home.
This was turning into a football match more akin to basketball. Both teams piling forward and trying to score whenever they had the ball. It was the kind of game that defensive coaches wanted to look away from, but for the neutral it was the epitome of what the Premier League is all about.
Howe’s side started the second half on the front foot and as Jacob Murphy danced past the defender, he only had an eye for goal but Kaminski made a great save with his feet to deny him. The hosts were so close to taking the lead once again.
Luton then countered with Ogbene driving towards goal. He was bundled to the floor and the referee awarded a free kick. VAR reviewed it and told him to go to the monitor. After watching it again, the referee changed his mind and awarded the visitors a penalty.
Morris stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way. As if this game did not have enough drama, the referee ordered for it to be retaken as he was getting players out of the penalty area when the Luton forward slotted it home the first time.
Pressure triples on the penalty taker, having to do it all over again. Morris stepped up for the second time and sent the ball into the exact same area and gave The Hatters the lead for the first time in the game. He showed he has some kahunas on him, that is for sure.
Credit: @LutonTown
Minutes later Barkley laid the ball off to Adebayo who doubled Luton’s lead. The Newcastle fans could not believe what they were seeing. As their side attacked and saw shot after shot blocked as the visitors threw their bodies on the line, they must have felt this was not to be their day.
As Guimaraes clipped a cross into the box on the outside of his foot, he spotted the run of Trippier who passed the ball into the bottom corner to give Eddie Howe’s side some belief that they could still come back in this game.
Newcastle continued to push for an equaliser and the visitors were struggling to cope with the onslaught. Losing possession in the middle of the park, Harvey Barnes picked the ball up and struck a shot from outside of the box into the bottom corner to drive the Toon Army crazy.
Having just returned from injury, it was some way to announce your comeback for the Newcastle winger. With just under twenty minutes remaining, this game could end in any score of your choice at this stage. Guimaraes sent an inviting ball across the six yard box but there was nobody on the end of it.
Barkley played a teasing ball over the top of the Newcastle defence to find Ogbene at the back post. He struck his shot on the volley but did not catch it sweetly enough to beat Dubravka, who held on to the effort. So close to breaking the hearts of the Geordie faithful.
Both teams shared the points and it was probably a fair result with neither side deserving of coming away from this epic encounter with nothing. It will go down as one of the best games in the Premier League season and you would struggle to find a more exciting match.
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