Newcastle United suffer defeat against Yokohama F. Marinos in pre-season friendly

Tokyo, Aug 3 (IANS) Goals either side of half-time from Élber and Jun Amano saw Newcastle United suffer a 2-0 defeat to Yokohama F. Marinos in their final J.League International Series 2024 outing in Japan on Saturday. After Wednesday's 4-1 win over Urawa Red Diamonds, Eddie Howe's side searched for a third straight win in their preparations for the 2024/25 Premier League campaign but were not up to the occasion.

There were moments of danger for United early on -- Yan Matheus thumped an effort from a tight angle into the side netting, Kenta Inoue clipped the crossbar with another strike and Kelly put in a timely block during another attack. Howe's side retained a threat in the final third, with Isak and Harvey Barnes both going close.

But just after the half-hour mark, they fell behind. It was a well-worked opener for the hosts, with Keigo Sakakibara released down the right before his pinpoint delivery was turned home first time by Élber in the middle; a neat finish to cap a fine move and give his side a lead they held until the break.

Howe rang the changes at the break, making seven changes to his side, but they began the second half poorly. After a let-off early in the second period, Amano wasn't so forgiving when Yuta Koike robbed Jacob Murphy on the byline and squared for him to slot home his team's second.

Newcastle looked to fight back, with Miguel Almirón and Murphy going close, while substitute Trevan Sanusi was a lively presence on the left flank but they couldn't muster a response in their second and final outing of the week-long trip to Japan - and were, in the end, somewhat fortunate not to have conceded a third late on when Miyaichi somehow missed with a header from point-blank range.

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