PLENTY have described the head coach job at Newcastle United as a poisoned chalice, but even in his worst nightmares, Eddie Howe cannot have imagined it would prove as cursed as this.

As if having to miss his first home game since taking charge of the Magpies because of a failed Covid test was not bad enough, Howe watched his second match at St James’ unravel inside the opening ten minutes last night as Ciaran Clark’s senseless sending off left the Premier League’s bottom team with a mountain to climb.

They briefly looked like ascending it when Callum Wilson scored from the penalty spot after a lengthy VAR check spotted a handball from Billy Gilmour midway through the second half, but for all that Newcastle’s players displayed commendable spirit and commitment as they attempted to claim what would have been a remarkable victory, their hopes were dashed when Teemu Pukki hammered home a Norwich equaliser 11 minutes from time.

As a result, Newcastle remain rooted to the foot of the table, and have now gone 14 matches this season without claiming a single Premier League win. You can have all the Saudi Arabian riches in the world, but as Howe is learning to his cost, money doesn’t buy you three points.

The former Bournemouth boss, understandably keen to accentuate any positives, will highlight his players’ battling performance and willingness to dig in after Clark’s ninth-minute dismissal, and claim there are things to build from as he looks to limp towards January, when reinforcements should arrive.

Ultimately, though, Newcastle need points rather than plaudits, victories instead of valiant displays. Norwich are every bit as poor as they are, and this was a golden opportunity. Not for the first time this season, it was wasted thanks to a moment of madness.

How Howe must be cursing Clark’s misjudgement. A week-and-a-half earlier, the Newcastle boss had been watching on in his hotel room as his side drew with Brentford, listening to the St James’ Park roars drift across the city as he isolated after testing positive for Covid. Last night, he was able to experience the matchday experience on Tyneside at first hand, and almost a month after his appointment as Steve Bruce’s successor, he was certainly made to feel at home.

The Wor Flags group unveiled their tribute to him before kick-off, with a huge banner in the Gallowgate End championing ‘Eddie Howe’s Black And White Army’ as the PA played Heinz Burt’s swinging sixties tune ‘Just Like Eddie’. According to the song’s lyrics, whenever your troubles are heavy, you should play just like Eddie. In hindsight, perhaps ‘not playing like Ciaran’ would have been better advice.

Clark was restored to the starting line-up in place of the suspended Jamaal Lascelles, with Howe switching to a flat back four for the first time in his reign, but the new boss’ defensive plans were ripped up after just nine minutes. As with so much that has gone wrong at Newcastle this season, the damage was self-inflicted.

Clark got himself into trouble when his attempt at a hooked clearance ricocheted off Pukki, leaving the Norwich striker with a clear run on goal. Having committed the error, the Irishman should have backed off, leaving Martin Dubravka to try to prevent Pukki from scoring. Instead, he compounded his initial mistake by tugging at Pukki’s shirt, leaving referee Andy Madley with no choice other than to issue a straight red card. Perhaps Newcastle would have fallen behind had Clark displayed even a modicum of composure? Even so, it would have been far preferable to having to play the remaining 80 minutes with just ten men.

Ryan Fraser was sacrificed within seconds of Clark’s departure, with Federico Fernandez coming in from the cold to bolster Newcastle’s depleted backline, but to the hosts’ credit, they quickly set about digging in to repel a Norwich side that have seen their fortunes improve significantly under Dean Smith.

True, the Canaries dominated possession for the majority of the evening, but with Jamal Lewis and Javier Manquillo working tirelessly in the full-back positions and both Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock tempering their attacking ambitions for the good of the team, Newcastle limited their opponents to a small number of genuine chances.

Gilmour almost scored from the free-kick that was a result of Clark’s dismissal – Dubravka flung himself to his right to produce an excellent save – but it was the half-hour mark before Norwich really threatened again. Josh Sargent met Christos Tzolis’ left-wing cross at the back post, but Lewis did superbly to get his body in the way of the midfielder’s shot.

Dubravka saved another effort from Tzolis on the stroke of half-time, but that was really that in terms of Norwich’s opportunities in the 18-yard box before the break, and while Newcastle’s attacking options were understandably limited given their numerical inferiority, the hosts were still able to muster something of a threat on the counter-attack.

Joelinton hammered over in the 20th minute after Allan Saint-Maximin danced past two opponents and squared the ball towards the edge of the area, and when Willock delivered a low cross into the box just after the half-hour mark, Wilson swept a first-time side-footed effort over the bar.

Nine minutes into the second half, and Howe was sprinting down the touchline screaming for a penalty as Joelinton went down in the box. Norwich full-back Brandon Williams was dangling a leg as Joelinton tumbled to the turf, but Madley remained unmoved and the VAR decided not to intervene. It was almost certainly the right decision, but the desire of Newcastle’s players to break forward and stretch the Norwich defence was nevertheless commendable. And the next time VAR was involved, the decision went the Magpies’ way.

It was a close call, with Fernandez’s header from Shelvey’s corner hitting Gilmour’s elbow as the Scotland international attempted to pull his arm back towards his chest. A lengthy VAR check resulted in Madley being instructed to view his pitch-side monitor, and as tends to be the way of these things, the referee returned to the field pointing to the spot.

There was still the small matter of Wilson having to beat former Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, who has established a reputation as a penalty-saving specialist with the Netherlands, but while Krul got a hand to the striker’s spot-kick, turning the ball onto the underside of the crossbar, he was unable to prevent the deadlock being broken. Cue pandemonium inside St James’ Park.

Saint-Maximin slashed wide when he had an opportunity to settle things as he galloped into the right of the area, but Newcastle’s focus in the final 20 minutes was understandably trained on keeping Norwich’s forwards at arm’s length. Unfortunately, for the hosts, they were unable to complete the task.

The visitors’ equaliser arrived with 11 minutes left, and was due, at least in part, to Dubravka’s failure to adequately deal with Gilmour’s cross. The Slovakian clawed the ball out to substitute Dimitris Giannoulis, who clipped in a return delivery from the left.

There was still plenty for Pukki to do as he swivelled towards the ball, but the Finn fired in a superb first-time volley that arrowed beyond Dubravka and into the top left-hand corner. All of Newcastle’s good work undone in an instant.

Things almost got worse in stoppage time, but while Fabian Schar’s error enabled Pierre Lees-Melou to break into the box, Dubravka kept out the Norwich substitute’s effort with his legs.