Uneven: An instant reaction to Burnley 1, Newcastle United 1

Newcastle United drew Burnley 1-1 at Turf Moor on Tuesday in a scrappy, see-saw affair. The first half was ugly and reminiscent of the majority of 2014, and the fact that the Clarets managed just one goal against an armless Rob Elliot was a victory in its own right. Alan Pardew made a double-switch at halftime, however, and it turned out the introduction of Steven Taylor and Rémy Cabella injected some much-needed life into the team, as Papiss Cissé leveled it almost immediately on a sublime Daryl Janmaat cross. The rest of the match was mostly dominated by Newcastle, save for a stretch of 10 minutes or so that just so happened to coincide with the substitution of Sammy Ameobi with Emmanuel Rivière. Though they saw plenty of the ball, the Toon were unable to come up with any attempts on goal of note in the final 40 minutes.

In the end, the result was a disappointing one. Despite Burnley's form, they fielded a team that Newcastle should have been able to handle. If there was ever a game that they would score more than one goal in, this was it. Instead, they'll head into the toughest stretch of the season with little to no momentum, and the hope that they can reproduce the second half more than they will the first. It was nice to see some fight. It would be nicer if they didn't have to constantly dig themselves out of a hole.