Newcastle United 1-2 Marseille: Player Ratings as Magpies Throw Away Crucial Lead In Champions League

Newcastle United had an important lead in their visit to the Velodrome, but a five-minute distraction and mistakes by Pope caused a meltdown.

IMAGO / Every Second Media

Newcastle visited Olympique Marseille for the 5th UEFA Champions League Matchday, but a big mistake by Nick Pope and a vintage Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang prevented the Magpies from winning.

Newcastle United had a perfect chance to take advantage of other results in the standings in the UEFA Champions League, but they were not able to close the away match against a more seasoned team like Marseille, who were backed by their fans the whole 95 minutes.

The Magpies were on the verge of getting their fourth straight win in the UEFA Champions League, something that would have put them in the playoffs already, but after an early goal by Harvey Barnes, everything collapsed.

However, the start of the second half proved why the Orange Velodrome is such a difficult venue to visit, and right away at the 46th minute, an awful exit by Nick Pope let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalise the match.

And just four minutes after that, while Newcastle was still in shock after Marseille’s goal, at the 49th minute came another strike by Aubameyang, one that was strong enough to not let the Magpies recover.

While Newcastle had an expected goals (xG) of 1.46, Marseille had one of 1.69, despite having the majority of possession with 58%.

Newcastle United 1-2 Marseille: Player ratings, as per FotMob:

IMAGO / Belga

Newcastle United players

• GK - Nick Pope: 6.7
• DEF - Fabian Schar: 5.9
• DEF - Malick Thiaw: 6.8
• DEF - Daniel Burn: 6.7
• MID - Jacob Murphy: 6.2
• MID - Valentino Livramento: 6.2
• MID - Sandro Tonali: 7.0
• MID - Bruno Guimaraes: 7.1
• FWD - Joseph Williock: 7.8
• FWD - Anthony Gordon: 6.3
• FWD - Harvey Barnes: 7.2

Olympique Marseille players

• GK - Geronimo Rulli: 8.0
• DEF - Timothy Weah: 8.2
• DEF - Benjamin Pavard: 7.2
• DEF - Leonardo Balerdi: 7.5
• DEF - Emerson: 7.3
• MID - Arthur Vermeeren: 7.4
• MID - Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 8.0
• MID - Mason Greenwood: 7.6
• MID - Darryl Bakola: 7.7
• MID - Igor Paixao: 6.8
• FWD - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 9.0 (MVP)

The MVP of the match, according to the data from FotMob's statistical engine, was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Marseille striker registered the brace that let the French team win the match.

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