Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez said he was disappointed that his side could not beat Aston Villa on Saturday, as their Premier League fate is now out of their hands.
After a 0-0 draw with already-relegated Villa, Sunderland’s 3-2 victory at home to
Chelsea means that Newcastle slipped back into the relegation zone. They are one point and one game behind the Black Cats, who can relegate their rivals with a win over Everton on Wednesday.
“We are disappointed. We now have to wait, see what they do during the week and then try to win our game,” Benitez said. “We were a little bit anxious in the first half. We were not comfortable in possession. In the second half, we had some good chances but you need to take them and we didn’t do that.
“We had to change things in the second half. We did that, but it was not enough. The players are disappointed. It was an opportunity to stay ahead of Sunderland and we couldn’t do it.
“But you cannot change things, just analyse what you’ve done and be sure that you are right if it goes to the last game.”
Aleksandar Mitrovic, who came on to replace the ineffective Papiss Cisse, added: “We had our chances but we didn’t score. It’s a bad result for us.
“I should have scored but I didn’t. I didn’t follow the game but I think Sunderland had very good news. We need to win our game and wait to see what they do. We’ll see.
“They [Villa] were so defensive, they didn’t want to score goals. I don’t know why they played like this but we had our chances and should have won the game. We still have a chance.”
After a 0-0 draw with already-relegated Villa, Sunderland’s 3-2 victory at home to
Chelsea means that Newcastle slipped back into the relegation zone. They are one point and one game behind the Black Cats, who can relegate their rivals with a win over Everton on Wednesday.
“We are disappointed. We now have to wait, see what they do during the week and then try to win our game,” Benitez said. “We were a little bit anxious in the first half. We were not comfortable in possession. In the second half, we had some good chances but you need to take them and we didn’t do that.
“We had to change things in the second half. We did that, but it was not enough. The players are disappointed. It was an opportunity to stay ahead of Sunderland and we couldn’t do it.
“But you cannot change things, just analyse what you’ve done and be sure that you are right if it goes to the last game.”
Aleksandar Mitrovic, who came on to replace the ineffective Papiss Cisse, added: “We had our chances but we didn’t score. It’s a bad result for us.
“I should have scored but I didn’t. I didn’t follow the game but I think Sunderland had very good news. We need to win our game and wait to see what they do. We’ll see.
“They [Villa] were so defensive, they didn’t want to score goals. I don’t know why they played like this but we had our chances and should have won the game. We still have a chance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment