Eddie Howe defends Nick Pope after error leads to Newcastle collapse in France

Eddie Howe has defended Nick Pope after the goalkeeper’s rush of blood set Marseille on the road to Champions League victory over Newcastle.

The Magpies were leading 1-0 at the Stade Velodrome when, just seconds after the restart, the England international raced from his line in a vain attempt to beat Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the ball and saw the 36-year-old round him before finishing from an unlikely angle.

Pope was beaten by the former Arsenal frontman for a second time just four minutes late as the Ligue 1 outfit secured a 2-1 win to kickstart their campaign and deny the Magpies a fourth successive three-point haul.

Asked about his keeper’s error at his post-match press conference, head coach Howe said: “It’s a concern when we concede goals regardless of who’s at fault. We have to look at everything with a balanced head.

“He saved us many times. He made some really good saves against Manchester City just two days ago. That’s the life of a goalkeeper. But I’ll certainly back him.”

Harvey Barnes had given the visitors a dream start when he fired them into a sixth-minute lead, and they passed up further opportunities to extend their advantage.

However Aubameyang, who had himself passed up a series of first-half chances, was ruthless after the break to snatch the points.

Howe said: “There are areas we can improve. These are the games we want to play in and test ourselves in.

“The second half, I think we did not react to the goal. We did not react to the goal, we were on the back foot and the crowd came into it. Then we were not at our best.”

The Magpies, who have won only one of their eight away games to date this season, face a tough trip to Everton on Saturday and travel to Bayer Leverkusen, who enjoyed an eye-catching 2-0 win at Manchester City, in their next European fixture.

Howe said: “We need the intent to go for more goals in games. The intent was there. Maybe our press was not as intense as it has been. One-nil is a delicate scoreline and we did not defend well enough.

“The result leaves us bruised, but we have great games ahead.”

By contrast Aubameyang, who scored his 400th career goal at the weekend, was delighted to have added two more to his tally on a night when the Ligue 1 side needed a win to boost their qualification hopes.

Asked how many he had left in him, Aubameyang told TNT Sports: “Hopefully a lot. I’m feeling great even if I’m 36. I’m enjoying it and when you live these type of games, of course you want to play more and score more.

“It was very, very important, especially at home for the fans and for us. If we want to go through, obviously we need to win games, so yes, it was very important.”