This could have been a night where Newcastle took a huge step towards qualifying for the last 16. Indeed, at one point, Newcastle had moved above Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid into sixth place in the live standings after coming from behind to lead in Germany. Firstly, Newcastle were easily undone from another corner kick for Leverkusen's opener.
This could have been a night where Newcastle took a huge step towards qualifying for the last 16.
Indeed, at one point, Newcastle had moved above Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid into sixth place in the live standings after coming from behind to lead in Germany.
But this was an occasion where some familiar issues reared their head.
Firstly, Newcastle were easily undone from another corner kick for Leverkusen's opener.
Robert Andrich easily wriggled away from Sandro Tonali to get his head on Aleix Garcia's delivery and the ball hit the back of Bruno Guimaraes and bounced into the net.
It came just a week after Spurs captain Cristian Romero had all the time he needed to score an overhead kick from a similar situation and four days after Newcastle conceded a penalty against Burnley after midfielder Jacob Ramsey handled the ball from a corner.
But Newcastle showed immense spirit to recover in the second half, typified by the livewire Gordon, who looks back to his best.
In fact, the England forward has already matched the legendary Alan Shearer's club record for the most goals and assists (seven) in a single Champions League campaign after also setting up Miley's second.
But, once again, a late concession proved costly - just as it did against Spurs and, nearly did, following a nervy finish against 10-man Burnley.
If Newcastle are to emerge from Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby against Sunderland unscathed, they not only have to swiftly lift themselves following this latest sucker punch.
They have to quickly eradicate these troublesome trends from their game.
Category: General Sports
