Thiago's late double adds to Toon gloom

Something is seriously wrong with Newcastle on the road. It is all well and good raising their game for the biggest Champions League fixtures, but if they continue to play as meekly as they did against Brentford - just as in defeat at West Ham a week earlier and on a concerning number of previous occasions over recent months - those European nights will rapidly become a thing of the past.

- Ben Bloom

Igor Thiago (left) roars in delight after scoring from the penalty spot

Two points above the relegation zone is no place for a club of their ambition. “It’s the wrong end of the table for us, but it’s the reality,” Eddie Howe said. That they ended this match with a numerical disadvantage after Dan Burn’s sending off was of little relevance to a defeat that they fully deserved. Harvey Barnes’s goal aside, they were utterly impotent, offering only his solitary shot on target all match.

Their winless away run now stretches to nine Premier League games, dating back to April. What is this travel malady that so afflicts them when leaving the northeast?

“The team has taken a few hits and I think that showed today,” Howe said. “We know we are going to get criticised, we expect that. We know it’s not good enough and I take full responsibility for that - the work to putting that right starts now.

“It’s not satisfactory. We haven’t done our jobs and feel we have let everybody down. When you make mistakes it’s not intentional from anyone. All you can do is hold your hands up and say let’s fix it. That’s what we're going to try and do.”