Newcastle United 1-1 Chelsea match report: Miguel Almiron lights up Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Miguel Almiron’s script had already been written as Newcastle United walked out at the impressive Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

With scores of regulars at the venue donning their Atlanta United shirts with Almiron emblazoned on the back, huge cut outs of the playmaker’s face being waved around and placards reading: “Welcome home Miggy”, you get the feeling it was always going to be his night.

Even The Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, pulled on a Toon shirt and supported Newcastle ahead of the side from London. The noise levels hit 100 decibels as Almiron was taken off with the fans of Atlanta showing they’ll never forget their hero.

For all the emotions surrounding Almiron’s return, this proved to be a handy work out for Newcastle. True, there were some defensive concerns again the early stages but Howe’s team once again found their way back into the match.

Despite the game being played on NFL field turf, at the home of the Atlanta Falcons, the artificial pitch was still heavily watered beforehand. And even though the temperature was scorching outside, the game was played in cool conditions thanks to the air conditioning at the illustrious and somewhat mind-blowing space-age venue.

Eddie Howe named a much-changed team to the side that drew 3-3 with Aston Villa in Philadelphia and he scrapped the three-man defensive unit in favour of a 4-3-3 system. But there was nothing to be concerned about as Bruno Guimaraes and Harvey Barnes were merely rested.

The game got off to an uneventful start and with no clear-cut chances for either side the teams were goal-less in the first 10 minutes. Joelinton won an 11th minute corner but Kieran Trippier’s cross was dealt with by the Chelsea backline.

Just a minute later, it was the Blues that went ahead as Ian Maatsen’s pass through the centre unlocked the Newcastle defence and Nicolas Jackson outpaced Sven Botman before calmly rolling it past Martin Dubravka for the opening goal. In response, United tried to get things going with returning Atlanta old boy Miguel Almiron – wildly cheered when the teams were read out – and the impressive Anthony Gordon who probed the London team down the left.

On the 20-minute mark, Fabian Schar was booked for a foul on Jackson on the right-hand side of the field. But the resultant free-kicked was easily cleared by the Magpies. Chelsea had another chance on 27 minutes but Cesare Casadei smashed his shot well wide of the target.

Maatsen then tested Dubravka low down after Mykhailo Mudryk’s bustling run into the final third but the Slovakia stopper was equal to it. Schar’s bad night continued as he went off with an injury after 33 minutes and was replaced by young Republic of Ireland youth international defender Alex Murphy.

Murphy took just seven minutes to make an impact after Almiron, who made the crowd come alive whenever he was on the ball, mopped up from a bad corner routine before crossing to the back post for Alexander Isak. The Sweden international then nodded across the goal for the 19-year-old Galway youngster to turn it at goal, only for Kepa to make the block.

But Newcastle did equalise in stoppage time to thrill the locals. The tourists levelled when Gordon’s driving run from his own half saw him make space for a perfectly threaded pass to Almiron.

The former Atlanta United star waited for the pass before sprinting past Marc Cucurella and slotting home with his left foot for a fine goal. After a half in which Chelsea could have put things to bed, Newcastle went in level at the break.

Howe made just one change at half-time with Pope replacing Dubravka between the posts for his first game of pre-season. The second half unfolded the same way the first had, relatively flat with no clear-cut chances for either side in the opening 10 minutes.

A fine run from Isak had the crowd on their feet as he slalomed his way past Reece James before finding a pass for Lewis Miley. But the youngster could only direct it straight at the keeper.

Jackson had another chance just before the hour mark put Pope made a fine save to push it away from danger. With 64 minutes played Pope saved Newcastle again as he denied England international Conor Gallagher with a fine save low down.

The game reached the second “hydration break” with the score at 1-1 and Newcastle still in with a chance of winning their first game of the tour. Amusingly the water breaks, which the Premier League put in place for the tournament, were roundly booed by local fans who deemed them unnecessary due to the impeccable air conditioning in the stadium.

Almiron went off with 12 minutes to go and was replaced by youngster Ben Parkinson as Howe continues to give youth a chance.

Howe threw on Harrison Ashby and Jay Turner-Cooke for the last few minutes to rest the legs of Trippier and Joelinton. But United avoided defeat thanks to another superb save from Pope who made a sizzling stop to deny Ben Chilwell at the death.

Nobody had been in any doubt who was Newcastle’s number 1 based on last season but Pope was on hand to serve an instant reminder why he’s the main man between the sticks. However, you could hardly begrudge Almiron of the star man award on his homecoming, and the game sponsors duly obliged to spark one last huge ovation for the Paraguay star.