Newcastle boss Eddie Howe gives his brutally honest take on Leeds United after 4–3 win – ‘I thought Leeds…’

Leeds United’s seven-game unbeaten run came to a painful end on Wednesday night as they were edged out 4–3 by Newcastle United in a dramatic showdown at St James’ Park.

Labelled by many as a contender for game of the season, the match delivered a breathless seven-goal thriller, with the hosts ultimately claiming all three points through a decisive strike deep into stoppage time.

Leeds looked on course for a memorable away win until Bruno Guimarães converted a 90th-minute penalty to haul Newcastle back into the contest. The late setback proved decisive, as Harvey Barnes struck again 10 minutes later to complete a devastating turnaround.

Despite the spectacle, frustration lingered among the Leeds fanbase, with goalkeeper Lucas Perri again attracting criticism after appearing capable of doing more to keep out Barnes’ injury-time winner.

Eddie Howe provides honest thoughts on Leeds after Newcastle won

Leeds were seconds away from extending their unbeaten run, and had the referee shown more sense, they could have left with all three points on Wednesday night.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has conceded that it is hard to analyse such a game, but admitted that his side were not at their best against the Whites.

He insisted that Leeds played well, and his team had to work hard and continue to push until the end to get that winning goal and break the away side’s hearts.

Howe said on Match of the Day, “I’m going to struggle to do it [to make sense of the game] because it was a crazy game.

“We weren’t at our best today. I thought Leeds played very well, but we had a spirit, a togetherness and a fight that we were never out of the game.

“We kept going until the end, and it’s a great win.”

Leeds will take heart from the performance

Daniel Farke had every right to feel aggrieved after the final whistle and has admitted that Lucas Perri should have done better to prevent Harvey Barnes’ late winner.

Even so, the Leeds boss can take plenty of encouragement from the overall display, with his side just seconds away from securing another valuable point on the road.

While the unbeaten run has now come to an end, there is little to suggest Leeds cannot put together another strong sequence of results as they continue to compete toe-to-toe with established Premier League opposition.

West Ham’s ongoing struggles have also eased some of the relegation pressure, allowing Leeds to focus less on looking over their shoulder and more on pushing towards a mid-table finish in the Premier League this season.