Eddie Howe had never attended a Champions League match until last month but anyone who expected Newcastle’s manager to display a novice’s grasp of elite European tactical intricacies was soon disabused as his side raced to the top of Group F.
Yet after a draw in Milan and a home dismantling of Paris Saint-Germain Howe and his players finally met their match in Edin Terzic’s intelligently incisive Borussia Dortmund. On a night when torrential rain cascaded down from the Tyneside skies, a fine first-half winner from the excellent Felix Nmecha ensured that, with three games to go, qualification for the knockout stages has been thrown wide open.
