Having risen to the challenge of the North-East’s best so well just 10 days ago, https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/12/09/the-fortress-stands/, I rushed for the train north thinking that a first away win of the season was on the cards, especially with a League Cup Semi-Final at Wembley on the line.
I’m not sure anyone has been more wrong about anything in the history of the universe!
Newcastle exacted their revenge for their defeat down South by ripping their visitors from the capital to shreds from the first minute to the last.
Whatever special serum Brentford have been taking this season, it clearly doesn’t work outside west London as they appeared both unwilling and unable to muster the slightest resistance to the Magpies onslaught.
Sure they had suffered a setback before kick-off, with Sepp Van Den Berg getting injured in the warm-up, but by the time they lost Ethan Pinnock to injury in just the 14th minute of the match there was nothing left to defend.
Sandro Tonali had already scored his first of the night 5 minutes earlier and would double his tally 7 minutes before half an hour had elapsed.
Fluidity was the watchword for the hosts and every time they got the ball they looked like scoring. If only the same could have been said for the super Bees.
Our play was turgid and played petrified of playing the ball forward.
We have a reputation for attacking at speed and in great numbers, but there was not a drop of that this week. I can’t recall a single time throughout the match where we got the ball and ran at the opposition.
The Newcastle back line must have thought we had left the attacking members of our team at King Cross Station, cause they never had to face them.
Watching us wilt from the 7th tier of the stadium was painful, with even the double introduction of Bryan Mbuemo and Mikkel Damsgaard 2minutes after the hour mark unable to inject some much needed quality into the visitor’s performance.
In fact it was just 7 minutes after they entered the fray that Fabian Shar fired home to put the result beyond any doubt and book the Toon Army’s tickets to Wembley.
Sure Yoane Wissa was able to ruin the Magpie’s clean sheet in the closing minutes of the match, slotting home the visitor’s first proper attack of the night, for the ultimate consolation goal.
When Sam Barrott blew the final whistle there was nothing left to feel but relief that it was over and that I had no train to rush for, though waking up with a view of the immense Tyne Bridge the next morning took none of the sting out of the result.
At least things could only get better when we returned home to face Forest at the weekend….. oh yeah, forgot Forest are on fire
Brentford have a trip to Brighton to finish the year off, then start 2025 at home to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, so at least it gets easier.
Why couldn’t we be playing teams from Manchester instead? January 14th is so long to wait for a guaranteed 3 points
The Football tourist 