Frustration as Newcastle held to goalless draw by Palace in Premier League clash

NEWCASTLE: Expectations have risen so high at St. James’ Park that a dominant home point against Crystal Palace is greeted with disappointment, rather than positivity.

But such is the way in what has been a transformative 12 months on Tyneside.

Looking at the scoreline alone, Newcastle United’s 0-0 stalemate with the Eagles on home turf bore all the hallmarks of regimes gone by — but this was very different from last season, even if the result was not.

Put simply, United did everything but score against Palace, having controlled the encounter from minute one to 95.

Head coach Eddie Howe made two changes to the side that was desperately unlucky at Anfield in midweek, suffering a late 2-1 loss to last season’s cup double winners Liverpool.

The only adjustments were in the center of defense, with Sven Botman and Fabian Schar replacing Jamaal Lascelles and Dan Burn.

Much as they did at Wolves, and for most of the opening 45 against Liverpool, Newcastle dominated possession, stroking the ball from left to right, with Schar and Botman, as well as the lively Sean Longstaff, chief tormentors.

While chances proved hard to create, some swift work by new boy Alexander Isak threatened to open the scoring.

The club’s record signing charged down a hesitant clearance from Joachim Anderson and raced through on goal, but just as he tried to lift over Vicente Guaita, the Spaniard stretched out an arm to deny him.

Joelinton, who had a bit of an off game by his standards, then hit the side-netting with a volley after a smartly worked corner straight off the training pitch, before Cheick Doucoure cleared one off the line from a Longstaff header.

At the other end, Palace’s threat was fleeting at best, although Nick Pope had to show