Gordon questions Newcastle's mentality after Leverkusen fight back
Newcastle United were on course for victory against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, but Eddie Howe's team could not hold on.
Anthony Gordon believes Newcastle United have a mentality problem, as he decried them throwing away a lead late on against Bayer Leverkusen.
Newcastle seemed set to come away from BayArena with three points in Wednesday's Champions League clash, with Lewis Miley having put them ahead in the 74th minute.
Miley's goal was teed up by Gordon, who had earlier cancelled out Bruno Guimaraes' own goal by converting a 51st-minute penalty.
Gordon became only the second Newcastle player to score at least five goals in a single season in the Champions League, after Alan Shearer in 2002-03 (six), but the England international was seething after the Magpies let another lead slip.
"I don't know [how the game slipped away] but it's happening too many times, to be honest," Gordon told TNT Sports.
"The first half an hour was really poor, but we came out well in the second half. The manager gave us a kick up the backside and we reacted well.
"Defensively, we need to be tighter because we are conceding too many goals late in games. I don't know if that is fatigue, but it all comes back to mentality. We have to hold out in these games because that is what top teams do."
Newcastle lost after taking the lead against Marseille two weeks ago, while they also threw away a lead late on in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham in the Premier League on December 2.
Asked if Newcastle had a mentality issue, Eddie Howe told TNT Sports: "I don't know. Goals happen in games, and we haven't defended well enough today. It was too easy for them to go through the middle of our defence [for the second goal].
"I wasn't happy at half-time, not so much with the performance, but there was a real lack of belief that we could score. You have to make things happen and really believe internally. Off the ball, we were getting close to them, but not in that final yard."
Newcastle sit in 12th place, two points off the top eight, with those teams progressing straight into the last 16.
"It leaves us in a good position [to qualify in the top eight]," added Howe, whose side face PSV and holders Paris Saint-Germain in January. "It leaves it in our hands, but we have two tough games to come."
