Frustrated Gordon urges Newcastle to be ‘stronger’ mentally after yet another late blow

Anthony Gordon lamented another late goal conceded by Newcastle as they were denied a crucial Champions League victory against Bayer Leverkusen.

Grimaldo struck late in a 2-2 draw in Germany to deny the Premier League side after a Gordon penalty and Lewis Miley’s header in the second half had put them on their way to a crucial victory at the BayArena, having gone behind in the first half to a Bruno Guimaraes own goal.

A victory would have taken Eddie Howe’s men into the spots for automatic progression to the last 16, but the draw leaves them as outsiders for the top eight ahead of their final two games against Paris Saint-Germain and PSV Eindhoven.

It is the eighth goal post-80 minutes the Magpies have conceded this season and Gordon could not hide his frustration at letting such an important three points slip away as he urged his side to be “stronger” in the crucial moments.

He told TNT Sports: “I don’t know [how the game slipped away] but it’s happening too many times, to be honest.

“The first half an hour was really poor but we reacted well and we came out well in the second half. The manager gave us a kick up the backside and we reacted well.

“Defensively we need to be more tight because we are conceding too many goals late in games. I don’t know if that is fatigue, but it all comes back to mentality. We need to be stronger, we need to be better”

“We have to hold out in these games because that is what top teams do.”

Howe: I wasn’t happy with our lack of belief in the first half

Gordon’s comments were put to Howe shortly after and the Newcastle boss said their lack of defensive solidity cost them, but insisted that he still thinks they are in a good position in the Champions League.

Asked if it was a mentality issue, Howe said: “I don’t know. Goals happen in games and we haven’t defended well enough today.

“It was too easy for them to go through the middle of our defence [for the second goal].

“I wasn’t happy at half-time, not so much with the performance but there was a real lack of belief that we could score.

“You have to make things happen and really believe internally. Off the ball, we were getting close to them but not in that final yard.

“It leaves us in a good position [to qualify in the top eight]. It leaves it in our hands but we have two tough games to come. All we can do is focus back onto the Premier League where we are in a decent vein of form.”

Attention will now turn to a huge game on Sunday away at Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby – the first in the Premier League for nine years.