In Melbourne, Newcastle’s young side suffered a 8-0 defeat in a post-season friendly against the A-League All Stars. Despite making significant changes from the team that beat Spurs on penalties earlier in the week, the youthful XI chosen by Eddie Howe could not match up to a team made up of top players from Australia and New Zealand’s premier league. The All Stars quickly took the lead with Ben Old scoring after just five minutes, and goals from Nicolas Milanovic and Adam Taggart made it 3-0 by half-time.
After the break, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos scored twice along with goals from Jake Hollman, Jordan Courtney-Perkins, and Bozhidar Kraev added to Newcastle’s misery. The timing of the tour was criticized by former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer. Howe mentioned that playing any of the first-team players was not an option due to the risk of injuries and the quick turnaround between games.
With key players like Bruno Guimaraes and Miguel Almiron already departed for the Copa America preparations and many others resting, only a few experienced players like England full-back Kieran Trippier were included in the squad. Despite their struggles, Trippier, Lewis Hall, and Elliot Anderson remained on the bench. The Newcastle players will now return home to prepare for their upcoming European Championship in Germany and Copa America in United States which are set to begin shortly after this friendly match.
