2025-12-11 12:24:15

Anthony Gordon has criticised Newcastle’s mentality after they conceded another late goal in the Champions League.

The Magpies were held to a 2-2 draw against German side Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday (10.12.25) after conceding an 88th minute equaliser and the winger is frustrated by the number of late goals the team have let in this season.

Gordon told TNT Sports: “I don’t know [how the game slipped away] but it’s happening too many times, to be honest.

“The first half an hour was really poor, but we reacted well and we came out well in the second half. The manager gave us a kick up the backside and we reacted well.

“Defensively we need to be more tight because we are conceding too many goals late in games. I don’t know if that is fatigue, but it all comes back to mentality.

“We have to hold out in these games because that is what top teams do. Again, it comes back to mentality. We need to be stronger, we need to be better.

“Ultimately, it’s consistency. We need to be a consistent team in every phase of the game.”

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was critical of his team’s defending as victory escaped from their grasp.

Asked if there is a mentality problem, he said: “I don’t know. Goals are events that happen in games and we haven’t defended the two well enough today.

“Regardless of timing, the first one’s a disappointment for us. It’s made our night very difficult – from there we’ve navigated it really well.

“The second one, need to see it again, but it seemed like it was too easy for them to go through the middle of our defence. It’s something we need to look at.”

Newcastle still have the chance to finish in the top eight of the league phase and land an automatic last 16 berth, with Howe looking forward to the two remaining matches in the New Year at home to PSV and away at PSG.

He said: “It leaves us in a good position – it’s in our hands.

“We have two tough games to come but we’ll look forward to playing at home and then, of course, a really tough one at the end which we knew was always there.”

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