A very different Sunderland to 2024 game

No wonder heads were bowed as Newcastle players and staff left the stadium after the game.

What a contrast to the scene a few hours earlier.

Rather than being fazed by a hostile welcome from those Sunderland fans who gathered outside, a number of Newcastle players smiled as they got off the team bus.

Dan Burn, who was later taken to hospital with a rib injury following a 50/50 with Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele, appeared to cup his ear.

Guimaraes, earphones in, bopped along as he made his way through the players’ entrance.

There were a number of survivors from Newcastle’s last win at the Stadium of Light, in the FA Cup a couple of seasons ago, who were able to stress the importance of the fixture.

But this was always going to be a completely different game against a completely different side under Regis Le Bris.

Sunderland have taken points off five of the sides currently in the top six for a reason.

“We are getting more and more experience now and the squad is getting better,” Le Bris said post-match.

“We are young. It’s our first season in the Premier League so after tough experiences – Liverpool and Man City – we are growing.

“So I’m not really surprised.”

Damning woes in front of goal

Sunderland won with the help of an unexpected goalscorer.

Nick Woltemade ended up popping up with a decisive contribution – only not in the way the Newcastle forward will have imagined – after he sent a bullet header through his own net less than a minute into the second half.

Newcastle never recovered.

The visitors may have had one more shot on target than Sunderland in a game lacking goalmouth action but that did not tell the full story.

This was an afternoon when Newcastle damningly set out to be compact rather than ambitious and failed to carry a threat on the break through forwards Woltemade, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga.

The closest Newcastle came to responding was when Guimaraes let fly from outside the area but it was a comfortable enough save for Robin Roefs to make.

Goals have not necessarily been an issue for Newcastle of late because others have stepped up from open play to ease the burden on the frontline.

Lewis Miley came off the bench to briefly put Newcastle in front against Leverkusen midweek. Guimaraes scored against Burnley and Spurs. Malick Thiaw even netted two at Everton.

But there was no repeat at the Stadium of Light.

“We were not there,” Guimaraes said. “No shooting, no crossing, no passing. We should have demanded the ball more.

“We just accepted the way they will play, long balls, they won the duels. In derbies we have to win the duels.”

‘You never want one game to define your season’

Those frustrations boiled over in the dying moments.

Joe Willock went into the book after knocking Roefs over while Thiaw was also yellow carded after clashing with Wilson Isidor.

By then, deep into stoppage time, the visitors knew their fate was as good as sealed on a bruising afternoon.

It is the latest setback in a stop-start campaign and Howe can ill afford to let the manner of this defeat seep into the season.

Not when Newcastle are in 12th place.

Not when Howe’s side have a pivotal Carabao Cup quarter-final against Fulham to come on Wednesday night.

Not when Newcastle still have work to do to ensure they secure at least a play-off spot in the race to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.

“You never want one game to define your season,” Howe said. “If anything, you want it to define it in a positive way and come back full steam ahead and show your class. That’s what we have to do.”