Crystal Palace 2 Newcastle United 0: Magpies beaten at Selhurst Park

The Magpies mustered just one effort on target – a weak Elliot Anderson header - as they turned in a disjointed display at Selhurst Park, with Eddie Howe’s decision to stick with his new 3-4-3 formation not paying off.

True, Newcastle had a strong penalty appeal turned down with 14 minutes remaining when the score was just 1-0, with Adam Wharton appearing to tug down Sean Longstaff in the box, but whereas Howe’s side had looked lethal in their new shape against Tottenham last time out, here they were leaden and listless for most of the night.

As a result, Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second-half double settled things, with the striker lashing home after unlocking the Newcastle defence via a one-two with Jordan Ayew before drilling home a second goal with two minutes remaining.

The Magpies remain in seventh position, but have now slipped three points behind Manchester United, who just about managed to see off Sheffield United. A seventh-place finish is likely to be good enough for Europe, but with a number of permutations still possible, it is not yet guaranteed.

Newcastle host Sheffield United on Saturday, and it will be a major surprise if Howe does not revert to his usual 4-3-3 system for the visit of the Blades. Whereas the Magpies had counter-attacked at will as they put Spurs to the sword at St James’ Park, this proved to be an unsuccessful rearguard action as they found themselves pinned into their own half for long spells.

Just five minutes had gone when Fabian Schar was forced to produce a superb last-ditch sliding challenge to block Joachim Andersen’s goal-bound effort, and the centre-half’s early intervention set the tone for much of Newcastle’s defensive play. With Palace dominating possession, the Magpies’ players had to keep a razor-sharp focus to prevent their opponents playing through them.

To be fair to Schar, Dan Burn and Emil Krafth, who formed the visitors’ three-man backline, Newcastle initially made a pretty decent fist of containing the effervescent Eberechi Eze and the in-form Mateta.

Eze drilled a shot just wide after creating space on the edge of the area, and Mateta glanced a header over on the quarter-hour mark after Eze crossed from the right. For all that Newcastle could have done with holding onto the ball better, though, the Magpies’ success in containing their opponents before the break was nevertheless commendable.

Indeed, they might even have claimed what would have been a somewhat undeserved lead on the half-hour mark had Dean Henderson not displayed the kind of smart reflexes that have made him a late contender for a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the Euros in recent weeks.

Bruno Guimaraes’ clipped through ball gave Alexander Isak a chance to run at the Palace defence, and his nod forward enabled him to gallop clear of Andersen. It also took the ball marginally further into the box than was preferable though, allowing Henderson to leave his line to produce a crucial block.

At least Howe’s side were showing signs of attacking life, and as the first half wore on, so the Magpies became more and more of an influence on the break. That said, though, half-time still arrived without Newcastle having recorded a single effort on target.

That didn’t change in the first ten minutes of the second half, which meant that when Palace found the back of the net in the 55th minute, it resulted in them taking the lead.

It was a wonderfully-worked opener from the hosts, albeit that the move began with Palace being presented with the ball via a poor clearance from Krafth. Eze fed a pass into Mateta, whose nonchalant flicked one-two with Ayew took both Schar and Burn out of the game. Mateta was able to advance into the area, and the French forward made no mistake as he drilled a clinical finish past Martin Dubravka.

With Mateta forcing Dubravka into a save with a header from a corner shortly after, Newcastle needed something to change. Howe turned to his bench within ten minutes of Mateta’s opener, introducing a fit-again Callum Wilson, who was making his first appearance since mid-February, and Lewis Hall.

Surprisingly, the changes did not result in a switch of formation, with Anderson swapping flanks to replace the substituted Jacob Murphy in the right wing-back berth and Howe opting to stick with three centre-halves. Given that Palace were very much in the ascendancy, it seemed a strange move.

Hall made a dangerous forward foray with 18 minutes remaining, firing in a cross that ended up with Isak, whose shot was blocked, but Newcastle’s failure to seriously test Henderson was still a major negative in their display.

That would almost certainly have changed, however, had the Magpies been awarded a 76th-minute penalty. Longstaff burst into the area to receive a square pass from Isak, and there was definitely contact as Will Hughes put an arm on the midfielder’s shoulder to tug him back.

Perhaps Longstaff went down too easily? Perhaps, after the weekend’s shenanigans involving Nottingham Forest, VARs are reluctant to intervene to give any penalties? Either way, a lengthy check ended with the video official agreeing with on-field referee Tom Bramall’s decision not to award a spot-kick.

That was really it from a Newcastle perspective, but there was still time for Palace to claim a second goal with two minutes left. Substitute Jeffrey Schlupp found Hughes in the area, and he pulled the ball back to Mateta, who fired home his second of the night.