(33 mins Joselu missed a penalty - saved)

Half time: Magpies 0 Clarets 0

65 mins Kenedy won a corner which he flighted to the near post from the North East Corner for Jamaal Lascelles to rise and head firmly into the corner of the Leazes End net. 1-0

85 mins Burnley were awarded a corner despite the ball appearing to have been headed over for a goal kick. Substitute Sam Vokes got his head to Jack Cork's flag kick and Darlow tipped the ball onto the bar, only for it to hit him on the way down and bounce into the Gallowgate goal. 1-1

Full time: Magpies 1 Clarets 1

Rafa Benitez:

"I think we created enough for winning the game and this kind of game, when you have two or three chances from the penalty and we hit the post, you have to take your chances and then you will not be defending fouls and corners and all these things. We have to keep going.

"The positives are that we created a lot of chances and we were capable to win the game and just take the chances. 

"It's not that you're not doing well, that you don't create and you are suffering, we were doing well but we have to be better, we have to manage the situation better.

"It's just because we were winning and we wanted to win, you have some tension at the end, that's because they're kicking the ball, free-kicks and corners, air putting the ball there in the box and it was a fight which was difficult as you never know the outcome.

"I think we have seen some games where we deserved to win and we couldn't do it.

"The reality is that we’re creating enough chances to win games, but we’re not defending in the way we have to defend if we want to be sure we can win games at home. 

"It’s a pity. It’s a lack of experience at times. We’re in the second part of the league, so we have to learn quicker and don’t make these mistakes in defence and take our chances when we have chances. 

"We had enough chances to win the game. That’s it.”

On debutant Kenedy:

"Kenedy has to improve his match fitness, but in terms of the quality he has – good deliveries and good passes – he’s giving us something, and hopefully he will give us more.

On the spot kick miss:

"It’s a pity, because don’t have too many penalties. When we had to decide, it’s normally Ritchie. Ritchie was not there, and Joselu was second. 

"He has not practiced too much, because we didn’t have penalties all season. It wasn’t a good penalty, but we have to carry on."
 

They Said

Sean Dyche said:

"Newcastle started much better, we gave away a good goal and then our response was terrific.

"We've shown a lot of character. I'd have taken that after the first half because they were the better side. We still looked like we were finding our feet and it was almost a new group playing tonight, in the sense that they haven't played that many games together.

"We weren't making the connections you need, but that got better in the second half and, in the end, we were the side going for the win.

"It's frustrating when you haven't won for a while and we are having a tough run at the moment, but we've got 35 points on the board and we're back up to seventh in the Premier League."
 

The closing of the transfer window coincided with midweek Premier League fixtures and for once on Tyneside, there was almost as much as activity off the field as on it - albeit all of a temporary nature.

By the end of the night two new faces had arrived and no less than six players had left, including Aleksandar Mitrovic and Jack Colback. Like Brigadoon, we were fleetingly open for business.

Further attention also fell on SJP as a result of a banner unfurled before kick-off. But while the fan group may be club-sanctioned, the message certainly wasn't and will quickly have reached the intended target wherever he was - he certainly wasn't present to see it himself. 

News that Mitrovic's move to Anderlecht was off was interpreted by some as a problem with Islam Slimani's medical, but our immediate cynical reaction was that the owner had pulled the plug in retaliation for the coded two fingers from the Gallowgate End. Rule nothing out round here.

In the event the striking departure and arrival was successfully concluded, although news that the incomer was carrying an injury and could miss the next couple of games was hardly welcome.

Events on the pitch were to underline the need for Slimani - and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka - as another night of pure frustration saw Newcastle unable to hang onto a lead and fail to end a winless home run now stretching to a scarcely believable eight games.

A poor Burnley side were there for the taking, but Rafa Benitez will be haunted by the manner in which his side spurned scoring chances - most notably a first penalty award of the season - before a bad refereeing call for a corner led to luckless custodian Karl Darlow registering an own goal. 

Joselu was guilty of a disgraceful spot-kick miss in the 34th minute and when the same player was unable to finish off a great breakaway that would have made it 2-0 to United, it was almost a dead cert that we'd be made to pay for our profligacy. 

The penalty was won by debutant Kenedy and it was his 65th minute corner that was met by a magnificent leap from captain Lascelles, capping a excellent evening's work for the Chelsea player.

Kenedy also hit the post during the first half with a superb curled effort that really should have been tucked away by Christian Atsu who scuffed the rebound straight to the grounded Nick Pope with the goal gaping - a miss every bit as pathetic as Joselu's from 12 yards.

The misfiring Atsu also hit a shot straight at Pope when well-placed as Newcastle looked certain to take the lead in a one-sided opening half hour.

Joselu's penalty followed a foul on Kenedy after a smart turn but his weak low effort was easily saved with Joselu chastising himself with some punches to his own head. We know how he felt.

United looked less potent after the break until Kenedy's corner set up Lascelles to break the deadlock and with Mo Diame posting an encouraging performance, hopes were high of extending Burnley's run of poor form.

The Clarets had seemed intent on bludgeoning their way to success, striker Ashley Barnes clearly pushing Lascelles before seeing his first half effort disallowed and involved in a series of dubious challenges that belatedly led to a booking - and more visible and audible dissent that the rookie referee chose to ignore.

The introduction of new signing Aaron Lennon down the left added another dimension to their play and a switch to 4-4-2 saw Burnley begin to bombard the United box. 

Winning a corner that appeared to have been headed over for a goal kick, But rotund rookie referee, Simon Hooper, awarded another corner and Vokes got his head to it as Darlow tipped the ball onto the bar but it hit him on the way down and bounced into the Gallowgate goal.

That knocked the stuffing out of the Magpies and rather than attempting to rouse themselves into scoring a late winner, they looked in more danger of ending up pointless as Burnley abandoned their time-wasting tactics and several home players looked decidedly uncomfortable. 

It stayed 1-1 though, full time at a deflated SJP confirming yet more home points tossed away and provoked some mild booing, even if results elsewhere saw United move up a place to fourteenth.

While there's a small element of comfort (and surprise) in actually getting deals over that infamous "line", comments from Dubravka about Newcastle's interest being known back in December suggest a level of prevarication rather than preparation in our window business.

Leaving things until the last day may please Jim White & Co. but hardly aided our cause. Had we been able to recruit when the manager had hoped, that point against Swansea could have been three - and tonight's stalemate could have been a precious victory.

Sadly though, the begging bowl nature of the loan market leaves us completely at the mercy of real football clubs, who do business as they choose and dump their recyclables at the last minute. Islam Slimani may be of a higher grade than Seydou Doumbia but it's all faintly shabby and desparate.  

Add in the whims of the owner and his apparent failure to sanction business until a phone call with the manager on the eve the window closing and a situation that may baffle many but should surprise nobody presents itself again. One can only presume we didn't actually receive any credible bids. 

It's hardly a revelation to conclude that doubts over the future ownership, identity of the manager and retention of top flight status saw us prefer temps over permanent signings in this window.

Fresh claims that Feyenoord's asking price for Nicolai Jorgensen was nearer to £25m may account for our failure to complete a deal - and a noticeable lack of interest in him from any other clubs.

The £15m that was unsuccessfully offered for the Dane looks to have gone back in the pot for the summer though - to be spent on behalf of a manager who may or may not have the initials RB.

Thirteen games then to save our skin, again. As to what the point of actually doing so is though, that's an entirely different question.
 
Biffa