Grimaldo snatches late draw for Leverkusen against Newcastle

Leverkusen, Germany, 11 Dec - Alejandro Grimaldo scored an 88th-minute equaliser as Bayer Leverkusen snatched a 2-2 draw at home to Newcastle in the Champions League on Wednesday.

That goal denied Newcastle a place in the top eight positions which qualify directly for the last 16.

With two matches left, Newcastle are two points behind the top eight and a point ahead of Leverkusen, with both currently heading for the play-offs.

Speaking with TNT Sports, Newcastle goalscorer Anthony Gordon said his side's defeat "all comes back to mentality", adding that "we've got to be stronger, we've got to hold teams off in games, because top teams do."

"Ultimately it's consistency. We need to be a consistent team in every phase of the game."

With Leverkusen leading through a Bruno Guimaraes own goal, Gordon levelled things up from the spot after a goalkeeping howler from Mark Flekken early in the second half.

Newcastle took the lead when Gordon set up Lewis Miley but Grimaldo, Leverkusen's standout player this season with nine goals and five assists in 19 matches, had the last word.

Leverkusen captain Robert Andrich told DAZN: "For long stretches, especially in the first half, we played a good game, then we had a sluggish spell and conceded an unnecessary penalty.

"You could tell from around the 65th minute we were running out of steam, but I'm still happy and I think we deserved the point."

Newcastle host PSV Eindhoven before a trip to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in their final two matches.

Leverkusen face Olympiacos and Villarreal, who both languish near the bottom of the 36-team table.

- Hjulmand a late withdrawal -

Half an hour before kick-off, the hosts were hit with the news that coach Kasper Hjulmand would miss the match due to personal reasons.

His team took the lead in simple fashion.

With 13 minutes gone, Aleix Garcia lofted in a corner to captain Andrich at the far post where he shrugged off Sandro Tonali as his off-target header cannoned off Guimaraes's back and bounced into the net.

Leverkusen were on top at the break but brought Newcastle back into the match with a poor goalkeeping error early in the second period.

A peripheral figure in the first-half, Nick Woltemade pressured Flekken into a poor mistake, seemingly sneaking up on the Leverkusen goalkeeper who pulled the Newcastle frontman down in the box.

Gordon nervelessly converted the spot kick and almost had another goal minutes later, hitting the inside of the post with Flekken beaten.

The England winger helped Newcastle take the lead with 74 minutes gone, curling a cross to Miley, who leapt to head home.

Newcastle sat back after scoring, allowing Leverkusen to build pressure.

Grimaldo duly obliged with two minutes remaining, latching onto a Ibrahim Maza pass and blasting past the outstretched hand of Aaron Ramsdale.BSS