Newcastle United 3-3 Brentford: Eddie Howe's side drop to bottom after thrilling draw

Jamaal Lascelles scored the opener from Matt Ritchie's corner after 10 minutes but Newcastle held the lead for 75 seconds

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe had an influence on his team's 3-3 draw with Brentford despite being confined to a hotel room because of coronavirus, said his assistant Jason Tindall.

Howe had to watch his first game in charge on a live feed after testing positive on Friday but made the "final call" on introducing substitute Ryan Fraser, who played under Howe at Bournemouth and crossed for Allan Saint-Maximin's equaliser to earn a point.

The result, and Norwich's win over Southampton, meant Newcastle slipped to the bottom of the table, but Tindall said he and his fellow coaches were in "constant dialogue" with Howe.

"At 3-2 down we had a decision to make and in dialogue with Ed, those subs we made were jointly done," said Tindall.

"But Ed has to take a lot of credit for that, he's the manager and he makes the final call. Bringing on Ryan Fraser certainly made the difference for us and he played his part in the third goal for Maxi."

As Howe settles into his new role a month after the club's Saudi Arabian-backed takeover, he will have watched a game which offered him encouragement while also illustrating the size of his task to keep Newcastle in the top flight.

With the home fans singing Howe's name from the first minute, Newcastle took an early lead when Jamaal Lascelles nodded in from Matt Ritchie's corner, but it only lasted 75 seconds as Ivan Toney took advantage of Karl Darlow's mistake to fire in low against his former employers and celebrate in front of the Gallowgate End.

The 25-year-old, who was sold by Newcastle to Peterborough in 2018 after several loan spells, was twice close to scoring again, being caught slightly offside and then having a goal-bound shot cleared off the line by Fabian Schar.

Thomas Frank's impressive team took the lead after 31 minutes when Sergi Canos' back-post cross found fellow wing-back Rico Henry, who stabbed a shot past Darlow.

Eight minutes later, Joelinton brought the scores level again, curling into the bottom corner following the lively Saint-Maximin's cross, for his first goal of the season.

In a thrilling encounter, Brentford went ahead once more when substitute Frank Onyeka's shot was deflected past Darlow via Lascelles, but Saint-Maximin's finish rescued a point.

Tindall praised the his side's attack and physical presence, but was "disappointed" to concede three goals in what he described as an "incredible" atmosphere at a sold-out St James' Park.

The result meant Newcastle continued their worst start to a league campaign, and are yet to win in the Premier League this season, while Brentford ended a run of four top-flight defeats.

Signs of Howe influence but plenty to resolve

There has been no shortage of drama at Newcastle since October's takeover, but following Howe's appointment 12 days ago, it appeared as if things had settled down over the international break - with the new head coach using the time to influence the squad with his methods.

That was until Friday night, where a positive coronavirus test meant he would watch his first game from his hotel room, and relay messages to his staff via the phone.

As starts to Premier League managerial reigns go, it was unique, but perhaps fitting for a club, where entertainment and gallows humour is never in short supply.

Tindall, who was Howe's assistant at Bournemouth, said the manager was "gutted" he could not attend the game and said it was "certainly a first for Eddie and myself" to work in that way.

But he said: "Hopefully we will have him back for the Arsenal game [next Saturday], we are just waiting on the doctors for that so it's a little bit out of our hands."

What Howe will have seen from his room is symptomatic of Newcastle's season, which has left them mired in the bottom three.

He had promised to offer the type of football that would "do the fans and city proud", and as Saint-Maximin dazzled up front, Jonjo Shelvey sprayed passes to both wings and Joelinton and Joe Willock provided trickery in midfield, the supporters revelled in the type of "front-foot" football they felt was missing under former manager Steve Bruce.

There appeared to be an increase in intensity to Newcastle's play too as Tindall encouraged the hosts to press in Brentford's half.

But as the impressive Toney and Bryan Mbeumo cut through the hosts' defence, it showed that there is plenty to do to make Newcastle a more solid outfit.

Toney was a menace at times, testing a back three of Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Schar in Newcastle's 3-4-3 set-up, and he could have had a hat-trick.

That changed in the second half as Newcastle tried to tighten up.

But once they went behind to Lascelles' own goal, a double substitution, which altered the formation and proved crucial.

Sean Longstaff replaced Willock in midfield, while Fraser came on and provided a delightful cross from Newcastle's best move to set up Saint-Maximin.

With the crowd in raptures, there was still time to get a winner but after another quick break, and the goal at his mercy, Joelinton slipped to massive groans all around St James' Park.

It was a sign that although the Howe revolution has begun, there are many issues still to resolve as the team remains five points from safety.

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