We asked Mark Jankowski to give us his match ratings and player commentary after Brentford 3 Newcastle 1.
Pope 5
Nick Pope made one or two smart saves in the match, most notably an eye-catching tip over the crossbar in the second half from Igor Thiago.
He also fluttered on a few crosses when he might have comfortably claimed the ball and was arguably too passive on his line for Brentford’s equalizer.
Ultimately, he was forced out due to a reckless challenge from Kevin Schade.
Trippier 4
Trippier was a big miss at West Ham last weekend and I was pleased to see him back in the line-up in midweek.
Unfortunately he was far too sloppy with many of his passes today and failed to beat the first man when crossing the ball too often, especially from corners.
Thiaw 6
The German was unlucky that his intervention in injury time turned out to be beneficial for the Brentford striker. For the most part he was determined at the back and looked comfortably our best defender on the day.
Botman 5
He coped well with the physical challenges presented by Brentford.
However, he was caught napping late in the match, allowing Brentford to score their third goal.
Burn 4
A day to forget for the man from Blyth, which was a shame after his heroics midweek.
Unfortunately, when he picked up his yellow card early in the second half, he became a huge liability and Brentford were able to score two goals by specifically targeting the big man.
Eddie Howe should have had him substituted after 50 minutes.
Bruno 5
I’m not sure how affected Bruno still is by the recent illness he has had, but he struggled to get a real grip on the game today, often being uncharacteristically hasty in possession.
When he was able to get on the ball in the final third he looked most likely to create a shooting opportunity for Newcastle.
However, his opportunities to do so were few and far between.
Tonal 6
It wasn’t Tonali’s best performance but he was instrumental in breaking many of Brentford’s attacking patterns in the first half and worked very hard to cover Dan Burn at left back.
He was sacrificed when Howe started to chase the game after Brentford had taken the lead.
Joelinton
Joelinton was my man of the match against Bilbao midweek and I thought he started well today too.
Unfortunately, he was forced to leave with a nasty shin injury after being caught for a follow-up in a 50/50 challenge.
I have assessed those follow-throughs by VAR in the past. While I don’t think it was intentional, it was certainly reckless, but still a red card was perhaps a bit harsh.
Murphy4
I’m starting to worry that people will think I have a vendetta against Murphy because every time I do player ratings he comes up as one of the lowest rated players on the field.
This is certainly not the case and I am a huge fan of Murphy’s and have been for a long time.
However, I thought he was frustratingly wasteful today.
His movement did not help Trippier in any way and although he gave him an excellent ball in the second half, which no one could attack, he was generally wasteful with his passing.
Woltemade 5
Woltemade struggled to get into the game today and often looked isolated.
I’m not sure that was entirely his fault and perhaps the team needs to do more to support him properly.
However, he was able to demonstrate his excellent control on a few occasions and his wonderful touch played an important role in setting Barnes up for our opening goal.
Barnes 6
Harvey Barnes scored an excellent goal today but there is a real problem on the pitch as we start him and Dan Burn on the left.
Barnes is easily one of our most dangerous players in the final third. However, he almost exclusively likes to get in the middle of the field to create for himself or for others.
This means he needs the support of a left back overlap to keep the team balanced and unfortunately Dan Burn is not physically able to provide that.
With Burn’s red card today, we should see Lewis Hall step into the left-back role against Man City. Hopefully this will make Barnes even more powerful in our attack.
Subs
Ramsey 5
Many fans have taken issue with Elanga’s pace at the start of the season.
I’m equally disappointed with Jacob Ramsey’s early season performance.
I know he has missed some time due to an unfortunate ankle injury suffered in the away game against Leeds, but at the moment he looks disappointing physically.
It seems like he is still a long way from being able to play effectively in our midfield until he improves in that regard.
The garden
Another match in which there was little to see for the Swedish attacker.
However, it took an excellent goal-line challenge from Rico Henry to prevent him from leveling the match at 2-2.
One of the problems we have with Elanga at the moment is that he is often drawn into games when teams are sitting very deep, depriving him of the space he needs behind the defence.
Hall 6
It was Hall’s excellent run down the left and subsequent cross that saw us almost level towards the end of the game.
Elanga waited in the six-yard box to finish after the young left-back escaped several attempts to pull him down and deliver an excellent cross.
I’m baffled that he wasn’t introduced earlier in the match. The positive thing about Dan Burn’s red card is that he now has to start against Man City.
Willock 4
Of all the subs we bought, I don’t feel like Willock really contributed anything.
Maybe 4 is a bit harsh, but I’m struggling to find a reason to give it anything higher.
Ramsdale 5
It was a difficult introduction to the game for Ramsdale, who were immediately awarded a Brentford penalty.
Unfortunately, he conceded two goals that he actually had little chance of preventing.
He made one good save towards the end of the match to keep the score somewhat respectable.
Miley N/A
Not on long enough to give a review.
Eddie Howe1
I don’t normally rate the manager when I do player ratings, but I felt compelled to do so today as replacing Dan Burn after he was booked was such an obvious decision.
I’m still completely shocked that Howe didn’t notice this and if he did, why on earth didn’t he act on it?
Eddie Howe, along with Kevin Keegan and Bobby Robson, is the best manager I have ever seen at this club, but he must take a huge responsibility for the way we conduct ourselves away from home, and also for the decision-making from the bench in influencing the game.
Howe has plenty of credit in the bank, but he really needs to find solutions to our disappointing form or he could find that credit running out.
Brentford 3 Newcastle 1 – Sunday 9 November 2025 2pm
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Barnes 27, red card 73
Brentford:
Damage 56, Thiago 78 pen, 90+5
Possess was Newcastle 51% Brentford 49%
Total shots were Newcastle 5 Brentford 15
Shots on target were Newcastle 1 Brentford 7
Corners were Newcastle 2 Brentford 6
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 16 Brentford 35
Newcastle team vs Brentford:
Pope (Ramsdale 77), Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Bruno (Miley 96), Joelinton (Ramsey 24), Tonali (Willock 77), Murphy (Elanga 77), Woltemade, Barnes (Hal 77)
subtitles:
Ramsdale, Schar, Lascelles, Krafth
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