16 mins DeAndre Yedlin's cross from the right was missed by two CSKA defenders at the back post, allowing Salomon Rondon to chest the ball down and fire home from close range. 0-1

40 mins Karl Darlow blocked a shot from Fyodor Chalov but was unable to prevent Abel Hernandez from shooting past him when Fernandes played the ball back in from the byline. 1-1

Half time: CSKA 1 Magpies 1

Full time: CSKA 1 Magpies 1

Rafa Benitez:

"It is a positive because the new players Barreca and Almiron know the players around them.

"Obviously when you have games, it is hard but we had this chance just after the transfer window, so it worked out good for everybody.

Three straight wins (starting with a home victory over Huddersfield Town) followed the Spanish training camp in March 2018, United finished the season in 10th place.

"If you could offer me that I'll sign for it straight away!

"If we can win some games like we did last year then that would be perfect.

"We have some massive games against Huddersfield, Burnley and West Ham coming up. We know that if we do well in these games we can win.

"But at the end of the day we have to play to our level, we have to deal with the pressure then approach the games with the confidence we had last year.

"After five days with double training sessions it was good to give everyone 45 minutes.

"You could see the tempo was good. I am happy with a lot of things but I think we could have won the game. We had a lot of chances."
 

They Said

Viktor Goncharenko:

"This is a very useful match for us. 

"In previous games we evaluated mainly our attack and it was difficult for us to form an opinion about defending. Today we were forced to work well in defence: sometimes the opponent forced us to make mistakes, other times we did it ourselves, but we had to do it in order to improve our game.

"Rafa is a very open person. He was keenly interested in what was happening with us, telling how things were with them. We talked about the experience he gained in English football, and this man won a lot of titles working with Napoli, Valencia, Liverpool ... Benitez worked with top teams in all the leading championships. 

"Of course, it is very pleasant to talk with him, especially since he is open. He told me: 'you can ask any questions, come to me in England, because when I was young, I also traveled a lot to learn everything, and asked many questions.'"

Newcastle concluded their Spanish training camp on Saturday with a kickabout at the Pinatar Arena against the side third in the Russian Premier League who had also defeated Real Madrid both home and away in the Champions League this season.

And as was the case when they faced Belgian side Royal Antwerp at the same venue in March 2018, the game ended in a 1-1 draw - although we only played 90 minutes this year, not 135....

22 of United's 25 man squad got what looked like 45 injury-free minutes under their belts, in what was a textbook example of a good workout (un buen entrenamiento as they say in the Byker barrio).

Lining up in their all blue change kit, there were first starts for Antonio Barecca and Miguel Almiron while goalkeeper Karl Darlow returned from injury for his first game since the early season League Cup loss at Nottingham Forest.

One familiar face for CSKA was ex-Hull City forward Abel Hernandez, the Uruguayan in playing the same Tigers side as current Magpies Mo Diame and Isaac Hayden exactly three years ago.

After a forgettable opening, United took a 16th minute lead when DeAndre Yedlin's cross from the right was missed by two CSKA defenders at the back post, allowing Salomon Rondon to chest the ball down and fire home from close range.

While facing Russian opposition was a novelty for most of the Magpies party, the goalscorer was no stranger to CSKA, having done so while playing for both Ruben Kazan and Zenit St Petersburg - netting for Kazan against them back in April 2013.

The Russians drew level on 40 minutes when Darlow blocked a shot from Fyodor Chalov but was unable to prevent Hernandez from shooting past him when Fernandes played the ball back in from the byline. 

United resumed the second half with an entirely different XI, Paul Dummett returning from injury.

Within three minutes of the restart Rafa's side had a chance to regain their lead when Joselu's run into the box saw him evade the 'keeper before rolling his shot towards goal from a narrow angle, only to be denied by a defender's saving clearance.

A low-key second half almost ended on a high note for United when Yoshinori Muto had sight of goal from inside the box, but former Russian international goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made a save.

Thanks to our man in the stand, GW.