Newcastle United were held to a 2-2 draw away to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
A Bruno Guimaraes own goal gave the Bundesliga side the lead in the 13th minute but goals from Anthony Gordon and Lewis Miley put the Magpies in front with just over 15 minutes remaining.
But for the third game in a row, United succumbed to a late goal after Alejandro Grimaldo scored in the 88th minute.
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Eddie Howe on Newcastle United’s theme of scoring late goals
There is a perception that United are purposefully sitting back and inviting pressure late on in matches.
When that was put to Eddie Howe, he replied: “No, I don’t think it’s ever a case of sitting back and absorbing pressure. That’s not number one in our aim but I think you need to do whatever it takes to win.
“Sometimes that is part of the course, that’s what you have to do. 2-1 ahead today with minimal time left. You know to a degree you’re going to have some defending to do at different stages and you have to stand up and be counted and do that and we didn’t do it well enough. And that’s a team thing, it’s the whole group realising the importance of defending our goal.
“Historically we’ve done it really well. Last year I think we were excellent at it. And I do think you go in phases and cycles and some things crop up that you can’t quite work out to a degree and then you fix that and something else crops up.
“So I think you’re in a constant phase of trying to improve. That’s certainly an area that we have to do better in.”
Howe added: “Well, I think defending set plays for one in recent weeks has cost us, so that’s not a case of anything other than putting our head on the ball and doing our job in that way.
“Tonight’s goal was different. I think in different moments of the game we were forced back. But I think you’re going to in different stages of the game. Every team will have those moments, even the very best teams in the world. That’s what you need to be comfortable in that moment and defend like we have always done really, really well.
“For whatever reason, our second goal today didn’t look pretty from our perspective. I’d need to see it again. But some structures have been loose and we’ve been punished.”
Newcastle United close to qualifying for Champions League knockout stages
Despite the late disappointment, the point has all but secured progression into the Champions League knockout rounds with two games to spare.
Howe said: “Yeah, we have to believe. When we started the Champions League campaign, we thought it was going to be easy.
“I think we’re in the wrong competition. We have very, very good teams. We’re travelling. The game schedule that we’ve got, all these things you add together makes it a challenging period for us. But I think the players are navigating it really well.
“I think we are playing with a clear identity and a plan, which, before the international break, I was disappointed with a couple of the performances. I think we’ve come back strong in that respect. We have it all to prove.
“The two games we have are very difficult games. But I believe in the group. Wherever we go, if we’re near our best, we can win.”
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