Nick Pope’s outstanding performance during Newcastle United’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain earned some reluctant praise from World Cup winner Lucas Hernandez at full-time.
How on earth do you sum that up?
It was a game Newcastle United were so unfortunate not to win – robbed at the death by another ludicrous VAR decision – but were perhaps lucky not to lose, PSG wasting a lorryload of chances before Kylian Mbappe rescued a point with a highly-controversial 98 minute penalty.
If it wasn’t for the brilliance of Nick Pope, and some superb defensive interventions from Fabian Schar, Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles and a 17-year-old Lewis Miley, PSG probably would not have had to rely on the whims of VAR (presumably an abbreviation of ‘very awful refereeing’) and a Tino Livramento ‘handball’ in stoppage time.
Nick Pope shines for Newcastle again
Pope pulled off a series of fine saves, including one from Bradley Barcola which will take some beating throughout the remainder of the campaign.
“Evenings like this where the ball doesn’t want to go in… If we take stock and see all the chances, the goalkeeper made saves that he (would never normally) make,” Lucas Hernandez, PSG’s £34 million left-back, tells Canal Plus.
“But there are no excuses. It’s up to us to continue to play our game. If we win in Dortmund, we will be first in the group. We have to continue as we are, hoping that the ball will go in…”
PSG mustered 31 shots to Newcastle’s seven at the Parc des Princes. Alexander Isak’s first-half opener following a Gigi Donnarumma spill was one of only two attempts on target The Magpies mustered on the night.
Mbappe frustrated
The sight of his last-gasp penalty crashing past a sprawling Pope, meanwhile, did little to improve Mbappe’s mood at full-time.
“It’s a disappointment. In a Champions League match, you can’t have so many opportunities and not score,” Mbappe sighs (RMC). “It’s not the structure, or the tactics. It’s us, the players. We have to work, be much more clinical.
“I had opportunities to score and I have to score, that’s clear. Everyone who has eyes saw that we dominated.”
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