As I type this, the full-time whistle has just sounded at Selhurst Park, bringing to an end Newcastle’s first win away South London since November 2020. Matthias Jaissle’s side have been in quite objectively horrific form on the road these last few weeks, with 4-1 losses at Elland Road and CBS Arena piling early pressure on the German. Going into today, many fans voiced a need for three points with some vocal sections of the online based support already beginning to question if Jaissle is the man for the rebuild at St James’ Park. Goals from Will Osula and Harvey Barnes sealed the victory, and relieved a fair chunk of that growing concern.
The Back Line
Going into today, our back four has been seriously leaky, keeping just one clean sheet all season, also away in London in a 2-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in late August. Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman have been the consistent choice at the centre of the back line, with Dan Burn and Fabian Schar both working their way back to fitness following long-term injuries and a lack of minutes. To that end, following last week’s bleak performance at home to Villa, Jaissle opted to make a change, swapping out both centre-halves for their experienced counterparts.
Schar and Burn offer a level of experience, leadership and grit that the side have been sorely lacking in so far this campaign. Whilst there were some uncomfortable moments, both Schar and Burn delivered solid performances and more than justified their selection in the team. Sadly for Messrs Thiaw and Botman, you suspect that performance will keep them out of the side for a while… and rightly so.
Bleak First Period
The first half, whilst better than what was shown at Leeds and Coventry, left much to be desired. Newcastle looked slow and laboured in attack, with Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock and Will Osula unable to impact the game at all. Harvey Barnes looked the most likely to produce something, but lacked the guile and composure needed in the final third to deliver anything resembling a piece of quality.
Meanwhile, our aggressive tactical setup means that each and every sloppy pass results in an overload favouring the opposition – something we saw happen a good few times early in the half. Thankfully, Burn & co were able to snuff out the danger, whilst Palace had their own quality deficiency in the final third.
All-in-all, the half ended without much fanfare. Both sides offered little goal threat, and 0-0 was a more than fair scoreline at the interval.
The Second Half Rush
Two minutes into the second period, Newcastle took the lead. Jacob Murphy’s delivery from deep on the right touchline nicked up off Tyrick Mitchell’s leg and landed perfectly on the foot of Will Osula a matter of yards away from the goal to poke home under a helpless Walter Benitez. Having barely touched the ball in the opening 45, Osula wasn’t about to leave it too long to make his presence known in the second. A bolt from the (navy) blue so to speak, that goal seemed to inject a shot of confidence into the United frontline, who were played with an impressive swagger for the next 15 minutes.
They always say “when you’re on top, you have to score goals”, and Newcastle seemed to be in good mood to do just that. Joelinton nicked a stray pass and sent Joe Willock through on goal. The midfielder took the ball in stride superbly before poking beyond Benitez and into the far corner. A lovely goal – one perfectly symptomatic of Matthias Jaissle’s intended football. Sadly, before we could get too ahead of ourselves, VAR intervened and ruled the goal out. Replays showed Willock’s shoulder and big toe had both edged over the offside line. Shame.
The set back didn’t seem to stop the Magpies. If anything, it pushed them on even further. A flurry of corners and deliveries had Palace hanging on for dear life. It felt as though we had to grab a second goal whilst we were so dominant. When Newcastle need a goal, there’s a certain winger usually good value for a bet to provide one. Step up Harvey Barnes.
58 minutes on the clock, Nico Gonzalez brought the ball down 35 yards from goal in the middle of the park, shrugged off Adam Wharton and poked it to Jacob Murphy five yards to his right. Murphy opened up and opted to slip Amar Dedic in down the right flank, who delivered a precise delivery just behind the penalty spot along the floor for Barnes to sweep home first time to send the travelling pack of Geordies into raptures. 2-0.
After the second goal, the remainder of the game was somewhat uneventful. Palace huffed and puffed, but never really looked like they were going to get back into the game. Burn and Schar patrolled well at the back, whilst Nico and Joelinton each put in a shift in the midfield. Returns to action for Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga offered yet more positives to an all around top notch afternoon for Jaissle’s side.
Man of the Match – Nico G
Nico Gonzalez has drawn praise for his work on the ball in recent weeks, but it was his contributions off the ball that stood out to me today. Seven defensive contributions – two tackles (both won), two interceptions and three clearances. He wasn’t dribbled past all day. Eight recoveries and 7/10 duels won throughout the game. Solid stats to back up what, from the naked eye, looked a very decent performance from the former Manchester City man.
That’s exactly the midfielder we thought we were getting. Breaking up play and protecting our central defenders, but also dictacting the play with the ball and offering a constant option to his teammates. Perhaps the moment that summed up his performance for me came late in the game. With 90+ on the clock, the Spaniard won the ball on the left flank and made a burst up the wing with several Palace players giving chase. He shrugged them off and looked to prod one in behind for Elanga to chase. The grit and determination to come away with the ball and and still try to get us up the field so late in the game summed up a top performance from a man who is beginning to look every bit the player we thought he was.
Verdict
Overall, I think Jaissle will be incredibly pleased with today’s result and, crucially, performance. For me, that second half today is arguably the best we have looked since the opening day. An 11-minute flurry put the game beyond Palace, whilst filling the 11 boys in blue with something they have looked very short of in recent weeks: confidence.
I do think this season is going to see many more ups and downs. It’s on us as fans to not get too high with the highs, and not get too low with the lows. We have to give the manager space and time to implement his vision. Having missed most of pre-season, they’re still probably a way behind where MJ would want them to be, and that much has been evident in recent weeks.
Today was good. A fabulous result for us. More important than the result for me was the performance in the second half. So much to like about what we saw. If we can channel that into future games, we’ll be just fine. We sit seventh in the league after today after eight games. For now, let’s try and continue to be patient and allow things to take their natural course.
Not too high, not too low. But for tonight at least, enjoy this one. Everton (H) next. Howay the lads.
