OPINION
Rafa Benitez has expressed his annoyance at his Newcastle United side’s failure to stop Wilfried Zaha yesterday, and so he should be.
The Crystal Palace forward won the penalty that ultimately cost the Magpies the game, and it was obvious how frustrated Benitez was to lose a game in that manner.
When asked if he was disappointed, as quoted in the Chronicle, he said: “Yes, because we knew how dangerous Zaha is and we were watching the clips about situations and especially this one – against Wolves, it was another penalty.
“We had four defenders around, so we made a mistake.”
The Spaniard’s irritation is completely understandable. This is a man and a manager obsessed with organisation, who prides himself on being able to set up a side in a way that stifles the opposition.
To concede such a sloppy goal will no doubt irk him massively, but it could also hint at a much bigger issue.
Benitez teams don’t ship easy goals. But yesterday, and to an extent against Bournemouth last weekend as well, fundamental mistakes were made that ultimately cost the Toon Army vital points.
That is a worrying trend that is developing for a side who have been so impressive since the turn of the years, and Benitez will be desperate to stamp it out before things get any worse.
The fact the Magpies manager has to constantly keep coming out after games to highlight avoidable mistakes as the reason why his side suffer a disappointing result, is starting to border on unacceptable.
The Magpies are probably only one win away from safety, but the last thing they will want is to drag out the wait for those three points, and the manager will be eager to get things back on track as soon as he possibly can.
