Newsletter

Get your daily update and weekly newsletter by signing up today!

News

Christian Atsu blames himself for the one that got away

7 years ago
Share

Winger Christian Atsu made only his seventh Championship start of the season but was left wondering how Newcastle failed to win.

Two first half gifts gave Bristol City what looked a winning position, only for United to look a different side in the second-half and earn a point.

Christian Atsu thinks NUFC deserved all three points and blamed himself for missing a golden chance in the 78th minute.

Matt Ritchie’s excellent long ball into the box eluded the last defender and after controlling the ball, Atsu somehow put the ball past the post from only 10 yards out.

The Ghanaian international put on a mixture of excellence and poor delivery, beating his man at will but his final ball often lacking.

When he did get it right, Christian Atsu witnessed a total lack of desire from both Mitrovic and Perez to get on the end of his crosses, Shearer could/would have had a hat-trick.

Christian Atsu speaking to the official club website:

“I’m very happy when I start. I always try to win every game because it’s very important for the team and also for me.

“But for me personally, it’s a disappointing result because I could have scored and we could have also won the game.

“I think we deserved to win the game. We created a lot of chances.

“In the first half we conceded two goals and I think we did very well to fight back to draw 2-2.

“But I thought we deserved to win the game even though we were two down, we came back and still we were creating enough chances.

“Sometimes it happens. we tried to give our best to win the game and I think they were also lucky – they could have conceded a third goal. We have to take our chances.

“They defended very well in the first half and in the second half they tried to defend but we were much better. We created more chances, and I think we’re on the right path because we are doing something right.

“We could score a lot of goals if we keep on creating these kind of chances. I think we could have scored four or five goals from the chances we made, but this is football. We’ll keep working hard, try to work on our finishing and see what happens in the next game.

“We were putting more pressure on them and though we lost two points, the next game is the most important now.”

“This is a very difficult game and we know that but for me, you treat every game the same way. We’ll keep fighting when we go away to Brighton.

“On Tuesday we will fight, you have to go to these places and give our best for our fans.”

Stats from BBC Sport:

Newcastle 2 Bristol City 2

Newcastle: Smith OG 59, Clark 82

Bristol City: Wilbraham 11, Cotterill 21

Possession was Bristol City  36% Newcastle 64%

Total shots were Bristol City 9 Newcastle 21

Shots on target were Bristol City 5 Newcastle 5

Corners were Bristol City 4 Newcastle 13

Referee: Chris Kavanagh

Newcastle United:

Darlow, Yedlin, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett, Ritchie, Colback (Diame 58), Shelvey, Atsu, Perez (Gouffran 79), Mitrovic

Unused Subs:

Elliot, Hanley, Gamez, Murphy, Anita

Crowd: 52,131

(To read the Match Ratings go HERE)

(To read the instant NUFC fan/writer reaction to the game go HERE)

(Bristol City boss Lee Johnson gets a little bit  carried away with his team’s Brazil-like football, read what he said HERE)

Share

If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk

Have your say

© 2024 The Mag. All Rights Reserved. Design & Build by Mediaworks