We scare away the Magpies

Winning at Villa Park last Sunday was unexpected, but beating Newcastle at St. James’ Park was a complete surprise. With Schade suspended, KA brought back KLP and again left Collins and Damsgaard on the bench. Ex-Bee Wissa was making his first appearance against us and was loudly booed (for good reason) by the away fans each time he touched the ball.

After only two minutes, Botman’s poor defensive header was seized upon by KLP. His shirt was blatantly tugged by Trippier, and he went down in the box. The ref allowed play to continue, and VAR upheld the on-field decision of no penalty. I think his shirt was tugged minimally outside the box, and his slightly exaggerated fall did not help his penalty claim. Newcastle broke straight up the other end, with Barnes curling a long-range effort narrowly wide of Kelleher’s left post. On 14 minutes, Kelleher punched Guimarães’s corner only as far as Murphy. The forward sent the ball back into a crowded six-yard box and Barnes went close with an instinctive flick. Newcastle again surrendered possession in their own third, allowing Jensen to line up a shot, but his strike was tame and comfortably held by Pope. Ajer then stole possession from Wissa on the edge of Brentford’s box. Janelt charged forward and slid a pass to Lewis-Potter on his right, but his shot was blocked by Hall. Centre-back Thiaw strode forward and let fly from the edge of the area, forcing Kelleher into an impressive save to his right. The resulting corner, taken by Guimarães, was nodded off target Botman. The Magpies took the lead midway through the half. Guimarães whipped in a corner and Botman headed down into the turf and up into the roof of the net. After Ouattara’s deflected cross was pushed to safety by Pope, Newcastle nearly got a second. Barnes’ cut-back ricocheted off Henry and Wissa’s poked effort was cleared off the line by Janelt. Tonali then scuffed a shot over the crossbar following another Guimarães corner. The Bees turned the game around before the break. On his 100th Premier League appearance, Ouattara drove up the left flank and swung a glorious cross into the box. Janelt rose highest, beating Botman in the air and heading back across goal and into the far corner. Our second goal came from the penalty spot. After some superb work from the lively Ouattara, Jensen’s strike from the middle of the box was handled by Murphy, and the ref awarded a spot-kick. Undeterred by a lengthy VAR check, Thiago sent Pope the wrong way, and we went in at half-time 1-2 up.

In the second half, Osula, brought on to replace Wissa, led a Newcastle counterattack and released Elanga on the left. The forward’s low cross narrowly evaded Guimarães in the middle, who went down under pressure from Michael Kayode. VAR recommended a review and, after watching the incident back on the monitor, the ref gave the Magpies a penalty. Guimarães scored from the spot to set up a dramatic end to the game. With the momentum having swung Newcastle’s way, there was a sense inside St James’ Park that the hosts would score a late winner - but we had other ideas. Jensen lifted a superb ball to Ouattara inside the penalty area, and the forward drove hard and low through Pope’s legs and into the back of the net. We held out for 10 minutes of added-on time and ran out 2-3 winners and back up to 7th place in the PL. Next game should be a banker 3 points – it’s on Thursday at home to Arsenal!