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Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle United: William Osula and Jean-Philippe Mateta scored as Palace secured three points at Selhurst Park.

Newcastle United news: Headlines, team updates, match previews and reports - all things NUFC

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Newcastle United’s Premier League season took a potentially decisive blow as Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a 94th-minute winner.

William Osula’s first-half opener was cancelled out by Mateta’s equaliser with 10 minutes to go before the French forward made it 2-1 from the spot in stoppage time.

Newcastle chief exec

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It leaves Newcastle sitting 14th in the table and five points off the top seven with six games left to play.

A new-look NUFC - but the same old side

A big talking point ahead of the game was the six changes made by Eddie Howe from the side that lost 2-1 to Sunderland three weeks prior, with the Newcastle boss naming a side he had never selected before in a competitive game.

Sven Botman kept his place despite a facial fracture that required surgery, with the Dutchman and Malick Thiaw preferred over Dan Burn as Howe reverted back to the defence that beat Chelsea 1-0 last month.

Lewis Miley returned straight to the starting line-up after being ruled out since January with a thigh injury.

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Osula was also handed just his second Premier League start for the club ahead of the £124million duo of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.

"He is a livewire,” Howe said on the decision to select Osula. “He's got real pace, physical strength and height that will help us. He's someone who's desperate to do well. He's been patient. Hopefully he takes this chance."

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William Osula takes his chance

While Newcastle’s approach for much of the first half was to play direct and look for Osula to run in behind, the breakthrough came when they finally got the ball down and played.

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Some intricate passing down the right from Sandro Tonali, Jacob Murphy and Lewis Miley released the latter to pick out Osula in the box, and the striker poked the ball in with an improvised finish to give Newcastle the lead heading into the break.

It was Newcastle’s first real effort on goal of the match, coming from the only real moment of attacking quality shown by either side in the opening 45 minutes.

Still, Newcastle had Aaron Ramsdale to thank for going in ahead, as he pulled off a smart double save to deny Yeremy Pino and Daniel Munoz moments before Osula’s opener.

There was a let-off at the other end midway through the second half as Jefferson Lerma’s close-range header rattled back off the crossbar, but Newcastle still held the lead heading into the closing stages.

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That soon changed with the introduction of Jean-Philippe Mateta, who pounced to draw Palace level with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.

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Newcastle United implode once again

Newcastle are no strangers to losing matches from winning positions, having done so more than any other side in the Premier League this season - as seen against Sunderland last time out.

But Howe’s side made it 25 points dropped from winning positions this season when Sven Botman was penalised for a shirt-pull on Lerma inside the box, and Mateta made no mistake.

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David Hopkinson may have parked the Newcastle boss’ future until the end of the season, backing the side to end the season well.

But instead they’ve suffered another defeat that leaves patience growing thinner by the week.