Newcastle United pay tribute to Kevin Keegan with Entertainers-esque victory over Leeds
The Magpies fell behind three times at St. James’ Park, drawing level on each occasion, before winning the match through a Harvey Barnes strike deep in injury time.
On the night that saw news emerge of Kevin Keegan’s cancer diagnosis, Newcastle United rolled back the years to the mid-nineties to deliver a result against Leeds United that Keegan himself would have revelled in.
Ahead of the kick off, St. James’ Park stood in unison to pay tribute to one of the most important men in the history of Newcastle. A man who saved the club from relegation to the then Third Division; a man who went on to lead the club to the brink of winning the Premier League.
What followed was nothing short of crazy. Newcastle were certainly not at their best, far from it in fact, but despite going behind three times to a determined and passionate Leeds side, the Magpies kept going, and going, and going.
Newcastle have dropped too many points from winning positions this season, and have not been brilliant when falling behind in games either. Neither would plague them on this occasion.
As the game took its last breath, with the score at 3-3 in the 102nd minute, the ball fell to Harvey Barnes…
The winger already had one goal during the match, and had looked Newcastle’s most threatening player. Barnes is also a man who has experience of scoring winning goals in 4-3 thrillers for Newcastle (see West Ham in 2023/24). Newcastle, as a club, also have previous examples of winning rollercoaster games 4-3 (see Leicester City in 1996/97, Leeds United in 2001, Norwich City in 2016/17 and West Ham, mentioned above).
With all that in mind, when Barnes struck the ball in the middle of Leeds’ box the outcome was inevitable. Ecstasy, pandemonium, sheer joy and delight, any superlative could be used. Newcastle United had won what will surely go down as the game of the season, and elevated themselves up to 6th place in the Premier League table.
None of that felt likely when Brenden Aaronson put Leeds ahead for the third time in the 32nd minute. Newcastle equalised quickly through Barnes, but were behind again at the break - Dominic Calvert-Lewin converting a spot kick.
Again Eddie Howe’s drew themselves level, just ten minutes after the restart, before the game turned into a glorified basketball match. The ball went from end to end constantly, with both sides making sloppy mistakes that almost cost them, until ultimately one did.
A loose pass from Yoane Wissa and a slip from Jacob Ramsey allowed Leeds to break. The ball came to Aaronson again, who found the bottom corner with just ten minutes left of normal time. After what had been a fascinating game for the neutral, for all those of a black and white persuasion it felt like a knockout blow.
However, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United, like Kevin Keegan’s, never know when they are beaten. If supporters in the crowd were fearing the worst, those in black and white on the pitch were not. A second penalty of the match, scored by Bruno Guimarães made it 3-3, before the most fitting of endings for both Howe and Keegan.
It’s fair to say Newcastle won’t want too many similar games this season, given the ups and the downs, and the three goals conceded. Instead, they will want is to bottle up the feelings that came from Barnes’ winner and the full time whistle, and use them as a catalyst for the rest of what could still be a hugely memorable campaign.