Newcastle eliminated from Champions League after 2-1 loss to AC Milan | OneFootball

Highlights

Newcastle United have crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages after they were beaten 2-1 by AC Milan at St. James' Park on Wednesday night. Eddie Howe's side gave it a good go and certainly didn't go down without a fight, but their loss to the Italian club condemned them to a last-placed finish in Group F, and they won't even play in the Europa League in the new year.

Heading into the evening, they were trailing Paris Saint-Germain by two points, and needed a win, while the French side had to drop points against Borussia Dortmund if they were to continue their adventure in the competition. A first-half strike from Joelinton set things up nicely, but second-half efforts from Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukuwueze cost the Magpies, and they failed to make it out of the group, despite the fact that PSG were held to a draw against Dortmund.

There's no denying that Newcastle gave it a good go, though, and they certainly weren't eliminated from the Champions League without a fight.

Newcastle started strongly

Joelinton gave them the lead in the first half

It was clear right off the bat that the Magpies weren’t willing to go down without a fight. Eddie Howe’s side looked well up for it, piling pressure on Milan immediately. The atmosphere in St. James’ Park was electric and the home team really took the game to Milan early on.

Their pressure was rewarded in the 33rd minute as well when a ball was played to Joelinton in the box, with the Brazilian taking a touch, before he fired it past Mike Maignan with a quite unstoppable volley. It was an incredible strike that no keeper in the world would have been able to keep out and the Magpies went into halftime with momentum firmly in their favour.

Things took a turn for the worse in the second half

Christian Pulisic equalised for Milan after the restart

The second half saw things get even better for Howe’s side too, as Dortmund took the lead against PSG through Karim Adeyemi, and it looked as though Newcastle would almost certainly be heading through to the knockout stages.

That joy was short-lived, though, as the Ligue 1 Champions equalised mere minutes later through Warren Zaire-Emery, and then it went from bad to worse as Christian Pulisic scored for Milan not too long afterwards and Howe’s side was right back to square one. They didn't give up, though, with Bruno Guimaraes having an incredible chance to put the Magpies back in front, with a curling effort from the edge of the area, but Maignan was on hand to deny him with an incredible save as he pushed his fierce effort onto the woodwork.

It looked as though Kylian Mbappe had ended all hope for Newcastle in the 76th minute as he scored to put PSG 2-1 up against Dortmund, but the strike was ruled out, and the Magpies' dream of progressing to the knockout stages continued. Rafael Leao had a glorious chance to put Milan in front, finding himself in a one-on-one situation with Martin Dubravka, but somehow his strike crashed off the post and for a moment, it seemed as though things were destined to go in Newcastle's favour.

That wasn't to be the case, though, as Chukwueze, mere minutes after coming off of the bench, converted an incredible curling effort from just inside the Magpies' area in the 84th minute to see his side jump over Newcastle and qualify for the Europa League knockout stages as a result. Here's how the final standings in Group F shaped up.

On the bright side, the Magpies, who have been stretched incredibly thin by injuries lately, can at least focus their efforts on the Premier League and a top-four finish this season.