Overshadowed by his younger counterpart in the second-half, Darlow struggled to command his area during the first 45 minutes and that directly contributed to two of the opening three goals. In particular, the Timbers' second goal came via a whipped free-kick into the box which was right in an area that a confident and commanding goalkeeper would be coming to catch or punch in order to help out their inexperienced defence, but Darlow remained glued to his line as Anthony Manning powered in a free header. The Nottingham Forest recruit is undoubtedly a good goalkeeper but this perhaps highlighted a slight weakness in his game that needs to be worked on. He will come back stronger from this, and he will have better nights going forward in a Newcastle shirt.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
