Marseille 2-1 Newcastle United: Aubameyang double ends visitors' winning run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proved a familiar foe for Newcastle United as he scored twice in Marseille's comeback win on Tuesday.
Two quickfire goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw Marseille come from behind to beat Newcastle United 2-1 and end Eddie Howe's sides winning run in the Champions League.
Marseille were behind at the break to a Harvey Barnes goal that had Newcastle on course for a fourth straight victory in Europe, only for Aubameyang to intervene early in the second half on Tuesday.
Newcastle made a rapid start, and Malick Thiaw had a header cleared off the line even before Barnes swept in after six minutes.
Marseille's response consisted of a series of chances Aubameyang would have hoped to do better with, twice testing Nick Pope and then twice missing the target from close range.
But the veteran striker was anything but wasteful with his first two chances of the second period.
Within 20 seconds of the restart, Aubameyang breezed past a wandering Pope wide on the right and fired a pinpoint finish into the vacant goal, and Marseille were ahead in the 50th minute as Aubameyang turned Timothy Weah's low cross into the roof of the net.
Newcastle had maintained a threat on the break but could not then muster a response, with defeat leaving them eighth in the Champions League table still on nine points. Marseille are three points further back.
Data Debrief: Familiar failings for Newcastle
The tight scoreline reflected the way both sides played, with Marseille producing 1.69 expected goals (xG) from 18 shots compared to Newcastle's 1.46 from 20 attempts.
This was the sixth time Newcastle had led at half-time in an away Champions League match and the first time they have lost, but everything else about this second half was painfully familiar.
After defeats at West Ham and Brentford, Newcastle have lost three consecutive away games after scoring first in each of them.
The travelling supporters might also have predicted the identity of Marseille's two-goal hero, with ex-Arsenal man Aubameyang now having scored eight goals and assisted three in 10 matches against Newcastle in all competitions.
