Alejandro Grimaldo broke Newcastle's hearts as he struck late to deny them Champions League victory at Bayer Leverkusen.
Substitute Lewis Miley looked to have claimed all three points at the BayArena with a 73rd-minute header after Anthony Gordon's penalty had cancelled out Bruno Guimaraes' unfortunate own goal on a night when Malick Thiaw was perhaps fortunate not to be sent off before the break.
However, after the Magpies had twice hit the post, Grimaldo snatched a 2-2 draw with an 88th-minute equaliser to leave Eddie Howe's men wondering what might have been as they turned their attention to Sunday's derby trip to Sunderland.
The Magpies dominated the early stages without finding gaps in a well-marshalled home defence until Harvey Barnes, looking for a fifth goal in as many games in the competition, cut inside to test keeper Mark Flekken with a sixth-minute attempt from distance.
Leverkusen, with assistant Rogier Meijer in the dugout in the absence of head coach Kasper Hjulmand for personal reasons, gradually eased their way into the game with Malik Tillman and Ernest Poku making their presence felt behind lone striker Patrik Schick.
It was they who took a 13th-minute lead when skipper Robert Andrich evaded Sandro Tonali to head an Aleix Garcia corner into the unwitting Guimaraes' back and watch as the ball ricocheted into the net.
Flekken saved a weak left-footed effort from Barnes as the visitors tried to respond but the Bundesliga side were emboldened and Thiaw enjoyed a 21st-minute escape when he hauled down Schick as he burst clear on to Tillman's pass.
Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk initially pointed to the spot and then was advised that the foul had taken place just outside the area, handing the defender a yellow card before Grimaldo wastefully curled the resulting free-kick over Aaron Ramsdale's crossbar.
Ramsdale had to save from midfielder Ibrahim Maza after he had cut inside Thiaw at the end of a 28th-minute break but, at the other end, Nick Woltemade scuffed a close-range shot wide after Leverkusen had failed to deal with a Guimaraes corner.
Flekken clawed away Tino Livramento's deflected cross but Ramsdale had to be equally resilient to keep out Poku's 44th-minute drive and Jarell Quansah's stoppage-time piledriver.
Newcastle, who had lacked both dynamism and precision in the final third before the break, came out firing for the second half and Lewis Hall drilled the ball across the face of goal after Gordon had harried Quansah into an error.
But it was keeper Flekken who handed the visitors a way back into the game, allowing Woltemade to close him down and then tripping him to concede a 51st-minute penalty which Gordon dispatched with relish.
Gordon was unfortunate to see his his 63rd-minute shot come back off the far post but it was from his cross 10 minutes later that Miley rose above Nathan Tella to head his side in front.
Flekken pulled off a stunning save to deny Thiaw and substitute Jacob Murphy hit an upright but although Ramsdale saved from Tella, he could not keep out Grimaldo's late strike after he had been played in by Maza.
