Half time: Eagles 0 Magpies 0
 
Full time: Eagles 0 Magpies 0

Rafa Benitez:

"We knew it would be difficult. We defended well. In the second half they pushed hard but we fought for each other. We missed the final pass.

"A point is a point, I expected we would take our chances on the counter, but we didn’t do well.

"We have to create more in these situations. When you have the ball in front of the keeper we have got to finish that.  

"We have been talking about Wilfried Zaha during the week, the team tried to defend him and help the full-backs defensively and did a good job.

"The positive is the teamwork, the unity and togetherness.”

About Ashley:

"I couldn’t see him on the pitch and he didn’t make any difference during the game! If the owner wants to come and support the team - perfect.

"I think it's a time now to talk about the game.

"He was here, That is positive. Everyone knows what we have. And everybody knows we will give everything every game until the last minute.

"After, we have plenty of time to keep analysing the situation and trying to make the right decisions."

On the away fans and the bottle throwing incident:

"It is not good. We are talking about 3,000 (away) fans, who were amazing. One mistake, everyone knows it is - 3,000 fans and one made the mistake.

"If we want to be stronger, we need the fans behind us. Our fans away have been outstanding, no doubt about that."

On Salomon Rondon:

"He was feeling a bit of tightness in his quad, so we needed to take him out."

On Federico Fernandez:

"He’s doing well. He’s a player with experience... helping the team in defence because he understands the game, knows the Premier League and was with us Napoli, so he knows what we want to do. 

"I think he’s a good addition for us."

Ahead of the game, the Newcastle boss said:

"We have to go to January and see what we do. After that it will be easier to know where we are.

"When I first decided to stay my view was very clear: to compete in the top 10. That is not the case now. So we have to review things.

"It's obvious for everyone that we have to do things in another way.

"I'm really pleased here. I like the city, I like the atmosphere and the fans and everything. 

"The potential of the club is massive."

Woy Hodgson said: 

"I thought we played well enough to win the game. We created enough chances to win the game, but it didn’t go our way today. I’m not disappointed because it was a good performance from start to finish.

"We’ve got a lot to cling to today, as it was a good team performance. I can’t fault anybody through the 90 minutes, and that’s good to take forward into the coming games. We are by no means downhearted, because if we keep playing at that level home and away, we will get the points we need to stay in the league.

"Our defensive discipline was very good, as was theirs. The bottom line is, Newcastle came here with a game plan to make it very difficult for us, and to deny us space. To cut down on the way that we want to play, so you have to give them credit for that. 

But we couldn’t have done an awful lot more today – other than the obvious of taking one or two of those goal chances which would have won us the game.

Newcastle defended extremely well but we had the best chances and looked most likely to score.

"They were very well organised and disciplined and it wasn’t easy to get through them, but I did think we did enough to get the goal that would have won the game, but the thing that pleased me was that games like that can often go against you.

"You can lose what’s been good in the first half and try to start to find a goal by some magical means, not the football you’ve tried to play.

"From the first to the 95th minute we played the football we wanted to play, we asked more than enough questions, but it didn't lead to that winning goal which would've been good for us.

"Wilf wasn't close to missing the game. He was complaining about some back pain, which the physios sorted out. It was a quiet game from him today, if we had him in the flying form we've had him in and spoiled by at times in the last season, I think it would've caused Newcastle even more problems.

"But it's been a hectic week, of discussions and maybe Wilf paid the price for that today, and we in turn did because we didn't see the threat and form he poses very often."

Newcastle ended a run of three successive 1-2 Premier League defeats with a second 0-0 away draw of the season, doubling their measly points tally and inching them up one place to eighteenth. 

Neither side particularly impressed in game that was as grey and miserable as the South London weather, the Magpies scarcely sighted in front of goal and the Eagles conjuring up a candidate for the miss of the season. 

That came with eight minutes of the game remaining, former Magpie Andros Townsend robbing substitute Yoshinori Muto on the left byline before crossing for Mamadou Sakho to plant a header wide of the back post with Martin Dubravka helpless.

Despite the ball having visibly gone out of play just before the cross came, play continued and had the Frenchman scored then it would have counted - perhaps a first moment of good fortune for Rafa Benitez and his side this season.

The return of Jamaal Lascelles, Jonjo Shelvey and Salomon Rondon allowed him to field arguably our current first choice XI for the first time - although Jonjo wasn't at full throttle and Rondon failed to re-emerge following an entirely incident-free 45 minute shift.

What proved to be our best scoring chance came early on when a slightly off-balance Ayoze Perez could only shoot straight at Wayne Hennessey. At the other end meanwhile, Dubravka turned away a dangerous low curling free kick from Milivojevic before the same player swung in another set piece that took the slightest touch off Lascelles and struck a post.  

While our attacking edge was absent though, the defence looked organised and proficient - Federico Fernandez again impressive as he supplied several well-time, no-frills tackling and clearances.

Credit is due also to both visiting full backs, who efficiently handled the trickery and gamesmanship of Wilfried Zaha - whose pre-game comments once again attempted to camouflage the fact he just doesn't like being tackled.

(Hopes had actually been raised that the Ivorian had injured himself when he cut short his warm-up and left the field clutching his neck. However he returned to complete the full 90 minutes). 

Ultimately this was a game to forget with two poor sides struggling to play anything like football and ensuring they'd be in the Graveyard shift on Match of the Day.

There was no lack of effort and spirit from those clad in black and white, but a Palace side without a single goal in their three home games to date were never remotely in danger of conceding. A failure to urgently address that will undoubtedly prove fatal. 

A shortage of on-field incidents led to coverage of matters in the stands at Selhurst Park, notably a rare sighting of Mike Ashley and his cohorts, the negative reaction to that by travelling fans and a bottle-throwing incident. 

Accompanied by Lee Charnley, Justin Barnes and Keith Bishop, the owner ended a self-imposed 16 month exile from attending games - in an apparent attempt to be publicly visible, given that Palace didn't sell out their corporate facilities today and at various times Ashley has preferred to watch games from a private box. It's unclear whether he was invited by Rafa.....

Anti-Ashley songs appeared to gain momentum as news of his appearance in the opposite stand spread - with a "sportsredirect.com" banner prominently on display. 

Meanwhile, a plastic beer bottle was hurled from the away section in the 73rd minute and struck Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the shoulder. That incident was highlighted by the media and mentioned in Andre Marriner's report - but whether any sanctions against United will follow remains to be seen.

A precedent was set at this ground in February 2015, when Newcastle's Fabricio Coloccini was left cut and bleeding hit by a coin thrown from a home section. However, no action was taken against Palace or the individual on that occasion and in back in February of this year the Eagles avoided punishment following a pitch invasion by a fan clutching a bottle of beer - perhaps it's their ale sales/stewarding need attention..... 

The visit of Leicester City to Gallowgate next week, together with some other possibly favourable fixtures involving other teams at the wrong end of the table could make a first victory more than invaluable, were we able to raise ourselves. 

Twelve of the fourteen players involved in our fine 2-1 away victory at the Foxes in April should be available (with Florian Lejeune and Dwight Gayle the odd men out),  but for that outcome to be repeated, a sizeable uplift in both skill and adventure would be needed.

For that to happen may also require some positive intervention from the crowd, if this isn't to become a season of genuine struggle and destructive division.

Biffa