NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom: Lamine Yamal’s penalty with the last kick of the game rescued Barcelona from defeat at Newcastle in a 1-1 Champions League last 16, first leg draw on Tuesday.
The Magpies were headed for a night to savour at St. James’ Park when Harvey Barnes opened the scoring on 86 minutes.
Yamal had been a peripheral figure but showed the composure of one of the world’s best players from the spot after Dani Olmo was tripped by Malick Thiaw deep into stoppage time.
The Liga champions still have work to do when the sides meet again on March 18, but will leave Tyneside relieved after a sub-par performance from Hansi Flick’s side.
Newcastle’s bid to make the quarter-finals for the first time was dealt a blow before kick-off when Anthony Gordon was forced to start on the bench due to illness.
Only Kylian Mbappe has scored more than Gordon’s 10 Champions League goals this season and the England international’s threat was badly missed as Newcastle a[pplied early pressure.
Eddie Howe had billed this game as the biggest in the club’s history and the desire to make amends for a FA Cup exit to Manchester City and a dissapointing Premier League season showed.
Howe made a bold choice with Gordon’s replacement as William Osula came in at the expense of club record signing Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa up front.
Osula’s pace troubled Barca’s high defensive line early on, but Newcastle’s best attempt to break the deadlock before half-time came from a corner.
Joan Garcia spilled his attempt to save Sandro Tonali’s header and needed to be rescued by a goal-line clearance from Pau Cubarsi.
The home side continued to press for a breakthrough in the second period.
Anthony Elanga should have picked out Barnes for a simple finish when his low cross was cut out by Garcia.
It took nearly 70 minutes for the visitors to create a clear sight of goal when Robert Lewandowski prodded wide from Raphinha’s cross.
That was Lewandowski’s final act as he was replaced by Marcus Rashford, who scored twice when the sides met at St. James’ Park in the League Phase.
Howe also turned to his bench in search of a winner with Gordon among those introduced.
The offside flag came to Barca’s aid when Joelinton thought he had opened the scoring after Barnes struck the post.
The visitors’ desire just to see the game out at 0-0 was evidenced when Ronald Araujo tried to hold up play by rolling back on the field after going down injured.
Italian referee Marco Guida refused to let the Uruguayan defender immediately back onto the field and Newcastle took full advantage as Barnes was unmarked at the back post, where Araujo should have been, to convert Jacob Murphy’s cross.
Much of Newcastle’s fine work was undone by one mistake as Thiaw flicked out a leg to bring down the jinking Olmo inside the box.
Yamal coolly sent Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to leave Newcastle needing heroics in the Camp Nou next week to reach the last eight.
Yamal penalty rescues Barca from defeat at Newcastle
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Yamal penalty rescues Barca from defeat at Newcastle
- The Liga champions still have work to do when the sides meet again on March 18, but will leave Tyneside relieved after a sub-par performance from Hansi Flick’s side
Four share lead after first round of Aramco LIV Golf Singapore
- Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee all posted rounds of 4-under 67
- Rahm is coming off a great week in Hong Kong as the two-time reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion won his first tournament since 2024
SINGAPORE: Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau routinely find themselves at the top of the LIV Golf leaderboard. Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee, meanwhile, finished Thursday’s opening round at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore breaking new ground.
Rahm, DeChambeau, Westwood and Lee each posted a 4-under 67 to share the first-round lead on a demanding day at Sentosa’s Serapong course. They lead by one stroke over a group of seven players, with 10 other players another shot back.
For Rahm, winner of last week’s HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong, this is the 14th time in his league career that the Legion XIII captain has owned at least a share of the lead after any round.
For Crushers GC captain DeChambeau, who has played two more seasons than Rahm, this is also his 14th time as a leader or co-leader. Last month, the two shared the lead entering the final round in Adelaide before Anthony Kim surged past them for the win.
While Westwood certainly has plenty of experience atop leaderboards, having won 44 times in his storied career, this is the first time he has held a share of the lead as an original LIV Golf member. He said it was a bit unexpected considering he just returned last week from a torn tendon in his left wrist, finishing T18 in Hong Kong in his first tournament start in six months. At age 52 — he turns 53 next month – he becomes the oldest LIV Golf player to claim a share of the lead.
“Seven weeks ago, I couldn’t hold the putter,” said the Majesticks Golf Club co-captain after his bogey-free round. “The specialist was worried that I’d torn the sheath in the wrist and I would need surgery to reconstruct it. To be sitting here, having a good week last week and then be leading this week is a very pleasant surprise.”
Lee spent much of LIV Golf Promotions in January atop the leaderboard, eventually winning in a dominant performance on the final 36-hole qualifier to earn his way into the league as an independent wildcard player. Now, in just his fourth start as an LIV Golf player, he becomes the first wildcard player to lead after any round, his 67 kick-started by a birdie on his opening hole when he holed out of a bunker.
Lee, the first Canadian player in league history, is determined to end the week setting another new standard. No wildcard player has yet finished inside the top 10 in any tournament.
“That could possibly change this week,” he said. “I’ve played this course so many times on the Asian Tour and I think I have a bit of an advantage on this course, knowing where the slopes are and where to miss it. I think it’s going to be a great week.”
Rahm is coming off a great week in Hong Kong as the two-time reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion won his first tournament since 2024. He birdied three of his first seven holes Thursday and finished with a flourish with two consecutive birdies.
He feasted off the par 5s in Hong Kong, making birdie or better on each of the two at Hong Kong Golf Club in every round. He continued that trend Thursday on with birdies on each of The Serapong’s three par 5s.
“I’m hitting it better off the tee, so it all starts with that on a par 5 where you’ve got to put it into play,” said Rahm, whose Legion XIII has a six-shot lead over DeChambeau’s Crushers on the team leaderboard.
“Once you’re in play, I’m long enough to have a comfortable number, usually, into the par 5s, and I think that’s been the main difference. It’s just everything so far this year is just a little bit better than it’s been in the past.”
DeChambeau, meanwhile, played his final 10 holes in 5 under, ending the round with three consecutive birdies. His only slip-up was a double bogey at the par-4 fifth when he found trouble out of a fairway bunker and then a greenside bunker.
He continues to chase the form that he showed in 2023 LIV Golf Greenbrier when he shot a league-record 12-under 58 to win the first of his three LIV Golf titles.
“Things just haven’t quite lined up yet,” he said. “It may just pop up with one golf shot. I don’t know. I’m one swing thought away. I’m really close is what I’m saying. I’m close to figuring out what that exact thing is, but I have to dial in my irons a little bit more.”
