Newcastle 0
Borussia Dortmund 1
Yet after a draw in Milan and a home dismantling of Paris SaintGermain Howe and his players finally met their match in Edin Terzic's intelligently incisive Borussia Dortmund.
On a night when torrential, incessant, rain cascaded down from the skies above Tyneside, Felix Nmecha's fine first-half winner ensured that, with three games to go, qualification for the knockout stages has been thrown wide open.
It was so wet at St James' Park that giant paper towel rolls had to be pinched from the toilets to mop up the pools of water collecting on the plastic press box seats and creating rivulets along the work benches. It was so bad the mini televisions which serve as replay monitors were kept indoors due to an electrocution risk.
Happily for the teams the playing surface was in rather better shape, proving conducive to a slick, speedy, end to end contest with both goalkeepers swiftly called to arms.
No sooner had Nick Pope reacted superbly to repel Donyell Malen's shot after Marius Wolf's stellar pass bisected Newcastle's backline than Gregor Kobel was showing off similarly sharp reflexes to keep Anthony Gordon's curler out.
Denne historien er fra October 26, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra October 26, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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