Newcastle United marked their return to life in the Champions League with a hard-fought point away to last season's semi-finalists, AC Milan on Tuesday evening, with Nick Pope proving something of a hero for the Magpies as they held off an onslaught from the Serie A side.
The former Burnley man – who was dubbed a 'tremendous presence' by The Chronicle's Lee Ryder – made eight saves to help keep the likes of Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao at bay, with such a standout showing helping to make up for the woes of some of those ahead of him in white and black.
January arrival Anthony Gordon, for instance, was among those to underwhelm at San Siro, with it perhaps time that manager Eddie Howe considers removing the £45m addition from his starting XI moving forward.
How did Anthony Gordon perform against Milan?
On the face of it, it was a typically industrious performance from the young Englishman as he looked to make his mark down the left flank, with 90min's Grey Whitebloom suggesting that the 21-year-old was 'threatening when he had space to sprint into' although 'those openings were limited'.
That being said, however, the former Everton man was unable to make the most of any rare opportunities when he did have the ball in the final third, despite recording a respectable haul of two key passes.
The £60k-per-week dud notably lost the ball on ten occasions from his 28 touches – ensuring he lost the ball once every 2.8 touches – while his measly total of ten passes was lower than even the aforementioned Pope achieved in the sticks (17), as per Sofascore.
Those 'wayward passes' – as noted by GOAL's Peter McVitie – were not helped by the fact that the wideman also struggled to help the Tynesiders defensively as he won just four of his 11 total duels, having also been dribbled past twice before being replaced on the hour mark.
With two failed dribble attempts also under his belt, it was seemingly just not his night against Stefano Pioli's side, with Gordon – and his teammates – likely to be breathing a real sigh of relief that they were able to walk away with a draw.
How has Anthony Gordon performed this season?
With summer signing Harvey Barnes – who scored 13 league goals for Leicester City last season – waiting in the wings, Howe would be wise to consider dropping Gordon to the bench for the trip to Sheffield United this weekend, following a bright, yet unspectacular start to the campaign for the Toffees academy graduate.
The England international does boast a tally of one goal and one assist from his six appearances this season, although, with just three goal contributions in total since arriving at St James' Park earlier this year, it is hard to argue that his acquisition has proven worth the investment as yet.
Even against Brentford at the weekend, despite winning the all-important penalty, Gordon's display was far from perfect as he lost possession 14 times, won just six of his 14 total duels and failed to register a single key pass, with Howe needing more from his attacking talents if a top-four berth is to be achieved again this time around.
It may appear harsh to ditch the Liverpool-born dynamo following a solid result against Milan, yet with Newcastle failing to truly kick into gear in an attacking sense of late, changes may need to be made sooner rather than later.