Newcastle boss Eddie Howe described Crystal Palace’s added-time equaliser at Selhurst Park as an “absolutely devastating blow”.
Daniel Munoz struck in the 93rd minute to secure a 1-1 draw that lifts Palace out of the relegation zone after a Marc Guehi own-goal had given the visitors the lead against the run of play.
Newcastle appeared to have claimed all three points despite failing to register a single attempt on target and only one shot all afternoon – compared to Palace’s 16. Munoz’s header ruined their celebrations, however.
“Killer blow at the end. We defended really well for the majority of the game and Nick Pope had important saves to make,” Howe said.
“When you come here you know you’re going to be examined in lots of different ways. We stood up to that really well until the end. It’s an absolutely devastating blow for us because we thought we were there.
“There was a lot of good from us in the first two thirds but nothing in the final third. We look a little bit low on confidence and we were lacking a cutting edge up front.”
Newcastle suffered the setback of losing Alexander Isak to a hip problem in the 22nd minute but Howe played down fears he is facing another spell in the treatment room.
“It was a contact injury and not a muscle pull, which is good news for us. We hope he will recover quickly but at this moment I don’t know,” Howe said.
Palace boss Oliver Glasner viewed the draw as a wasted opportunity to secure only the club’s second Premier League win of the season given the number of chances they created.
“The result is not a good result when we see the performance. The performance was very, very positive. The stats show 16 to one shots,” Glasner said.
“We deserved more because of the way the players played and the chances we created. When you score an equaliser in the 95th minute you have to be happy with that and we are.
“But the feeling is not that it was a lucky point, more that we lost two points. We feel that we deserved three.
“It shows our character that we kept going and believing we could score a goal because it was mentally a very tough game.”
Glasner ran from the dugout to the corner flag to celebrate with his players when the equaliser was scored.
“It’s this feeling you just get in football. It was like a release. I didn’t know that I’m still so quick! The players deserve everything because they left their hearts on the pitch,” he said.
