Key events
Mancunian-infused half-time entertainment. David Hytner picks the bones of Manchester United’s dismal campaign …
… while Jamie Jackson reports on Manchester City’s earlier win in Belgrade, where yet another star from the City academy was born.
HALF TIME: Newcastle 1-0 Milan
Joelinton’s screamer means that, as things stand, Newcastle will qualify for the knockout stage. It’s goalless at the break in Dortmund.
45 min +1: At the corner, Maignan is flattened by Joelinton. The whistle goes for a free kick, but the keeper’s not happy and asks the referee to hand out coloured-carded-based punishment. The ref does, but to Maignan for his ludicrous over-reaction.
45 min: Wilson harries and hassles and wins the ball on the halfway line. He barrels down the left but can’t get a shot away. The play’s switched to the left, where Trippier and Almiron combine to win a corner. Before it can be taken, Musah and Wilson are rollocked twice by the referee for wrestling. There will be two added minutes.
43 min: Musah plays a ball down the inside-left channel to … nobody. Milan have been pretty clueless in attack tonight.
42 min: Trippier sends the resulting free kick into the box from the right. Joelinton heads the ball straight up into the air. Nobody’s perfect, and he’s got plenty of credit in the bank this evening.
41 min: Miley wins a corner down the right. Trippier takes. Giroud heads clear. Leao tries to get ahead of Almiron to start a counter, and plants the point of his elbow on the Newcastle player’s lug. Ooyah oof. That’ll smart. Leao goes into the book.
39 min: Miley takes a silky touch down the right and draws a foul from Musah. Miley is 17. A free kick to the side of the box. Danger for Milan … but it comes to nothing. Milan break upfield through Leao, but he can’t beat Livramento in a footrace. Livramento is 21. The future’s bright for Newcastle.
37 min: As things stand, the Toon are going through.
35 min: Milan attempt to hit back immediately by humping a free kick into the mixer. There’s a brief game of head tennis. Miley puts a stop to it by clearing Newcastle’s lines. This place is bouncing.
WHAT A GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Milan (Joelinton 33)
This is an absolute belter. Gordon drifts in from the left and considers shooting. Instead, he rolls towards Miley on the right-hand corner of the box. Miley rolls it back inside for Joelinton, who from the edge of the box gives the ball a little tickle before sending a rising screamer into the top left. Maignan, at full stretch, had no chance whatsoever! St James’ Park goes one louder.
32 min: Bruno Guimarães waves his arms around to get the crowd going. It’s not as though St James’ Park had fallen silent, but the fans find a way to go up to 11.
30 min: Newcastle are nearly undone by a simple long punt down the middle. Musah threatens to bustle clear, but Lascelles stands firm to eventually shut the door.
29 min: Miley and Guimarães nearly execute a defence-opening one-two down the right, but Florenzi fights to get back into position and usher the ball out for a goal kick. Fine play all round.
27 min: Reijnders slides and flips Livramento into the air like a fried egg. It could easily have been a booking but the referee looks to be in a laissez-faire mood tonight.
25 min: Joelinton whips in a cross from the right. Almiron guides a header towards the top right but it’s too close to Maignan, who claims without fuss. Meanwhile it’s still goalless in the other game. Michael Butler has the latest.
24 min: Now it’s Milan’s turn to pass up a big chance. Musah bursts into space down the middle and slips Leao into the box down the left channel. Leao opens up his body with only Dubravka to beat … but curls an effort meant for the top-right corner miles wide.
22 min: Eddie Howe holds his head in his hands. He knows what a huge chance that was. Why did Almiron not just immediately ram that home? Take nothing away from Tomori’s intervention, mind. What looked a certain goal denied.
20 min: Joelinton drives into the Milan box from the right. He draws Maignan and rolls across for Almiron, who prepares to tap home from a couple of yards. But he waits to go with his left rather than his right, and Tomori is able to stick out a boot and sensationally block. The ball squirts out for a corner, from which nothing comes. That’s as brilliant by Tomori as his earlier slice was comedic.
19 min: Milan aren’t doing much in attack. Leao crosses from the left but the ball’s easily cleared by Livramento. “I just went back and watched the video again,” writes Dida obsessive Chris Paraskevas. “They got the stretcher out for him! The Dark Arts ain’t what they used to be.”
18 min: Space for Schar, in a pocket 30 yards out. He opens his body and attempts to steer into the top-right corner. Always heading over.
16 min: Gordon tries to one-two with Livramento down the inside-left channel but Calabria is having none of it and intercepts on the edge of the Milan box. That’s fine defending that puts paid to a promising attack.
14 min: Some pinball in the Milan box. Joelinton just about sorts his feet out to get a shot away. It bobbles through to Maignan. This is fast and frantic, but not particularly finessed.
13 min: Joelinton romps towards the Milan box only to be dispossessed brilliantly by Loftus-Cheek. Milan counter through Leao, who slips the ball wide right for Pulisic. He enters the box before slicing a shot-cum-cross out for a goal kick. With Leao in the centre, he should have done better.
12 min: Almiron intercepts in the centre circle and sends Gordon away down the left. The ball’s shuttled infield to Joelinton, who takes the first shot in anger tonight from 30 yards. It deflects wide right, and Maignan races across to stop the ball going out for a corner.
11 min: Newcastle faff around at the back and Dubravka eventually shanks a pass out of play. Then Florenzi crashes into Almiron and earns a taking-to from the referee. It’s a bit scrappy now.
9 min: Lascelles challenges Giroud from behind on the halfway line. He pops his elbow on the back of the striker’s head. Giroud goes over holding it, and rolling around quite a lot. The referee tells them both to get a grip. Then Musah skittles Miley. Suddenly a bit of edge to the game. So much on the line for both sides, after all.
7 min: It’s a fast start by Newcastle. Milan are struggling to string anything together.
5 min: Gordon cuts infield and is hauled down by Pulisic. A free kick, 30 yards out. Trippier, who has been out of sorts lately, takes it and nearly plants it into the top left. Just wide, just over. That should make him feel better after those dodgy outings against Everton and Spurs.
3 min: Almiron curls in a cross from the right. Tomori flashes a leg at the ball to clear, only to slice it horribly over his own head and send it looping towards the top left. Maignan gets back to claim, but only just. Discombobulated, he clatters into Wilson and falls over. Nothing as preposterous as Dida v Wee Ned (2007), Chris Paraskevas will be pleased to hear.
2 min: One hell of an atmosphere at St James’ Park tonight. Like that’s news worth flashing. The home fans celebrate a Gordon block-tackle like a goal. Gordon responds with a COME ON! The place is buzzing.
Milan get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Gallowgate in this first half.
The teams are out! Newcastle are in their famous black and white stripes, while Milan sport a wild pink, purple and blue number that “celebrates the culture of inclusivity and diversity that has been at the heart of AC Milan since day one”, which seems fair enough. We’ll be howay in a minute.
Pre-match postbag. “Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud… so AC is short for After Chelsea now and Milan is where the Pensioners get pensioned off to?” – Justin Kavanagh
“ACM: Alumni of Chelsea in Milan” – Peter Oh
“I can still remember the great Milan players of old: Nesta, Maldini, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka, Shevchenko. That lineup for the UCL final against Liverpool is still insane. But for me the endearing image of the club in the 21st Century is Dida going down against Celtic. Simulation is one thing: but the way Dida crumpled in a heap that night at Parkhead was high art. I haven’t seen such blind commitment to a performance since Sylvester Stallone in Escape To Victory. Having said that, it still has nothing on the Bowyer-Dyer fight: Newcastle do public meltdowns so much better (hopefully we avoid another one tonight)” – Chris Paraskevas
Do you remember the 19th night of September? Here’s how the reverse fixture at San Siro panned out as Newcastle returned to the Champions League after a 20-year hiatus and immediately started chasin’ the clouds away (ba-de-ya).
Eddie Howe talks to TNT Sports. “Excited about today … what an arena … the atmosphere will be rocking … we’re delighted to get Callum Wilson back, and Dan Burn and Sean Longstaff … it gives everyone confidence, not just the playing ability but the leadership skills they bring in the changing room … you’re stronger together and we’ve got a bit back … when you look at Tino Livramento and Lewis Miley and how they’ve responded, we’ve almost gained two extra players to our squad that we can depend on … Lewis starts again and deserves to, he’s been magnificent … when we play here the start of the game is crucial … we have to give the fans something early on to get into … we want to keep our European campaign going … I won’t want to know about [the other scoreline in the group] until I need to know about it … tunnel vision.”
The state of play. Here’s how Group F looks before tonight’s final matches.
-
Borussia Dortmund have already qualified for the knockout stage, while PSG are assured of Europa League action at the very least
-
PSG will qualify if they win in Dortmund
-
Newcastle can only qualify if they win and PSG fail to beat Dortmund
-
Milan can only qualify if they beat Newcastle and PSG lose
-
A draw at St James’ Park tonight would guarantee Newcastle a place in the Europa League in the new year
Newcastle make just one change to their starting XI in the wake of the 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. Callum Wilson replaces the out-of-sorts Alexander Isak, who drops to the bench. Martin Dúbravka has recovered from his reported back and shoulder problems so there’s been no need to call up Loris Karius. Dan Burn meanwhile returns from injury though he doesn’t dislodge his impressive stand-in Tino Livramento; he’s named as a sub.
The teams
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Trippier, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento, Miley, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson, Gordon.
Subs: Dummett, Isak, Karius, Hall, Burn, Longstaff, Harrison.
AC Milan: Maignan, Calabria, Tomori, Hernandez, Florenzi, Reijnders, Musah, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao, Giroud.
Subs: Adli, Jovic, Okafor, Chukwueze, Pobega, Krunic, Nava, Traore, Mirante, Bartesaghi, Nsiala-Makengo.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands).
Preamble
Arsenal: through. Manchester City: through. Manchester United: out. Will Newcastle United make it three out of four for the Premier League? They’ll need to beat the seven-time winners Milan tonight, and hope Paris Saint-Germain fail to win in Dortmund. “We will try everything,” says Eddie Howe. “It would be an incredible achievement.” Kick off at St James’ Park is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!