Newcastle United continue to break records as they disrupt the Premier League 'Big Six'. However, Saturday's draw against Crystal Palace admittedly felt like two points dropped for Eddie Howe's outfit after a boatload of chances fell the Magpies' way.
Nick Pope and his trusted back line continue to impress - and were ultimately responsible for Newcastle not tasting defeat in the capital. The £10m summer addition has now kept more clean sheets (12) this season than goals conceded (11).
Pope had a quiet evening at Selhurst Park but was called upon in the second-half where he produced a stellar stop to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta from 12 yards out. The opening 45 minutes saw the Newcastle stopper tasked with little to do, which has been the case more often than not of late.
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The Magpies have not conceded in the first-half of a Premier League game since August 28th when Ruben Neves found the net for Wolves. 16 Premier League games without shipping a goal before the interval means Newcastle have matched a record held by Liverpool since 2002.
"You can be happy with three-quarters of the pitch, but it’s the opposition box where you should make it count," Pope told Sky Sports at full-time. "We’re disappointed with today, but when we look back at the first half of the season we can be proud."
The first-half of the season has exceeded all expectations but the bar has now been raised for Newcastle. The pressure is on to keep pace with the runners and riders at the business end of the top flight.
To do that, Newcastle must find their scoring boots once again. Howe's side looked toothless in south London and despite forcing Vicente Guiata into seven saves, the travelling outfit never *really* looked like finding the net.
Newcastle needed a last-gasp winner at Fulham last week and went 180 minutes without a goal against Arsenal and Leeds at the beginning of the month. There was no such issue earlier in the season when Newcastle stuck five past Brentford, four beyond each of Aston Villa, Fulham and Southampton & three in against Manchester City and Leicester.
Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak are both back to full fitness and fighting for the one central striker role in Howe's system. The former was replaced by the latter midway through the second-half but couldn't spark Newcastle into life.
Howe admits he is open to playing Wilson and Isak together but it is not clear how the duo will line-up alongside one another in this team. Isak was used as a No 10 against Fulham and may be used off the wing in future.
Saturday's stalemate has caused calls to grow when it comes to new blood arriving before the end of January. Chris Wood's untimely exit means Howe wants to add another body in attack in the coming days.
“As a manager, you always want more options. I’ve got no issue with the squad, strength or size," Howe admitted at full-time. The point I was making yesterday was if we get injuries, we’d be very light.
"We’re keen to do business and keen to bring a player that can hopefully help us but as we know in this window, there are no guarantees that will happen."
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