I honestly thought yesterday was going to be really tough to win our first Premier League game of the season, against Aston Villa at home.
The Villains had done so well once new manager Unai Emery came in last season and they finished in 7th place with 61 points, just 10 points behind Newcastle.
But I was completely wrong.
Newcastle went ahead with a great goal from debut boy Sandro Tonali after 6 minutes.
And then the debut boy for Villa, Frenchman Moussa Diaby, a former Newcastle target, scored the equalizer after just 10 minutes and looked like a great player in the first half.
We went ahead before halftime with a good goal from Alexander Isac after just 16 minutes.
A beautiful free kick from Tonali from right midfield was sent back across goal by Sven Botman and Isak was there to hammer the ball past Martinez, who would later make some good saves to keep the score down.
The second half was basically one-way traffic as Newcastle lifted their game into a higher gear, and went after Villa.
Goals from Isak on 58 minutes – a great chip over the goalkeeper, then Wilson after 77 minutes, who was set up nicely by new-boy Barnes from the left, and then Harvey Barnes himself scored one of his trademark goals after 91 minutes with that right foot of his coming in from the left.
What a player this lad is going to be for us this year – he’s certainly got an eye for goal.
That made it a wonderful 5-1 win and one of the best performances by a Newcastle side in their first league game of the season.
The Newcastle fans were absolutely magnificent and the place to play your football right now is in the great City of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
🙂
This is what Eddie Howe Told Match Of The Day after the game:
“We scored five – we could have scored more. Everything clicked for us,”
“It was a tight game decided by our ruthlessness in front of goal. Villa were also in the game, so we’re very pleased. We had to be at our best.”
“We knew we had a difficult start [with the fixture list], so you look at this game as a massive moment in our season.”
“Now we have to go to Manchester City, which is the hardest place to go.”
“We’ve got to embrace the challenge and then of course Liverpool, but we will focus on City first.”
And so to our Man of the Match and we have to say not one single player had an off day yesterday.
And it showed just how strong our bench is with the contributions of Wilson and Barnes coming in the second half.
Tonali, who will become a world-class central midfielder under Eddie Howe’s coaching, is our Man of the Match with 59% of the vote currently.
Second is Aleksander Isak with 20% and third is Anthony Gordon with 16%.
Note that all three players were signed over the last year by our recruitment team under the leadership of Sporting Director Dan Ashford.
Please vote if you haven’t already done so.
We cannot expect this every week, so we will have to calm down, just a little bit.
There again maybe Newcastle will dish this out in every game – they will certainly try to do that under Eddie Howe.
🙂
Hope so, because our long-suffering fans deserve this and the new owners, players, and coaching staff have allowed Geordie fans all over the world to dream again.
And we will.
Newcastle United is a happy family these days – and there’s more to come.
Howay The Bonnie Lads!!
211 comments so far
clinath@ed
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:02 PM
Comment #41“Bad day at the office. When I say bad day, it’s like shitting yourself in a meeting and then crying.”
Best quote of the day, spat my coffee all over my iPad.
Swanny
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:04 PM
Comment #42Full as a top and brimming with pride…..
What a belting weekend eh, absolutely topper
First off, the thread, cannot remember which one, but the one mentioning year born and where….General 1959
Friday Collingwood beat Geelong by 8 points….
Saturday Freo belted the posh kids West Coast by 101 points..
Saturday night….Why ya bugger, how good was the team eh, absolutely first class, howay me bonny lads
The day Newcastle Knights belted the Bulldogs 42-6 to round the weekend off nicely…..Tickety boo!!!
I seen Gascoigne’s first game for us and declared I seen the future England captain and if he’d been right in the heed he would of been……anyhow I’d like to make another predictiuon, if the las is managed proper and with a little bit of luck we have an exceptional player in the making……..
ANTHONY GORDON !!!!!!!
rESPECT
catchy in norway
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:05 PM
Comment #43I dont think its long before Miggy is dropped and Gordon is in that spot and Barnes on the left. It will Happen
Essex Geordie Bill
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:06 PM
Comment #44The U21s won 5-3 against Southampton today.
Essex Geordie Bill
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:12 PM
Comment #45Turner-Cooke 2, Carlyon 1, Diallo 1 and Parkinson 1.
check the toastie
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:22 PM
Comment #46Catchy – I think you could be right.
Had a poor first half on the ball Miggy. Came back strong second mind and his attitude can never be questioned.
One thing that interests me is the buying of Livramento, will the kid start to put Trippier under serious pressure. I think once Livramento starts playing it could be Tripps who struggles to get back in..
jasper
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:23 PM
Comment #47EGB
We had four players booked, Botman, Bruno, Tonali and Gordon.
Not at all sure why? I was at the game so easy to miss it especially if it was for something off the ball, arguing or whatever. Anyone enlighten me?
They had four booked, included Cash who then didn’t get a second one for a pull back when he should. They then subbed him. Others were Digne, Luiz and Martinez. Kamara wasn’t booked despite a series of fouls.
The Martinez one makes me think that the league should intervene and ban him for gross cheating.
check the toastie
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:23 PM
Comment #48Essex – nice left peg on him that Turner Cooke. Played well in preseason.
Miley, him and Murphy have a future
check the toastie
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:31 PM
Comment #49Jasp –
Gordon – foul tracking back
Bruno – waving imaginary card
Tonali – leaving field too slow
Botman – whinging at ref for not showing Martinez red.
Only Gordon’s worth it. Tonali was very unlucky. Ref being a wanka
jasper
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:32 PM
Comment #50Also a word of praise for Gordon. The reason the Diaby didn’t get past Burn was that Gordon got back every time to double team him. Must have run even further than Miggy, the Duracell bunny himself. He also chased right back until he was last man to clear the ball on another occasion.
It was claimed when he signed that he could prove a disruptive influence in the changing room. But again Howe has got it right, one could not have asked for more. I suspect he really has the respect of his colleagues after that game.
check the toastie
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:32 PM
Comment #51Spurs much better than brentford.
Novocastrian66
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:34 PM
Comment #52Botman was booked for dissent as was Bruno. Gordon for a foul. No idea why Tonali was booked.
Gordon got booked for his first foul on Cash who had about half a dozen pops at Gordon before being booked.
Adamn_92
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:39 PM
Comment #53The Gordon booking was infuriating. Cash was kicking chunks out of him the whole game and took forever for him to get booked. Gordons first foul on cash and he got booked immediately.
Wonder if there’s more leniency in bookings for dissent and leaving the field slowly etc, if the player is already on a yellow. If there isn’t there could be a lot of easily avoidable sending offs this season.
The Taco Taker
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:42 PM
Comment #54Not sure Miggy will be dropped anytime soon but Gordon is of course an option there and played in that position for Everton many times.
Also while some people here say Livramento can play RCB, I have no idea what they are basing that on, he can definitely play as and RM/RW which could provide yet another option on occasion.
I would think the player who will struggle to get into the team and may be off in Jan or next summer is Murphy.
cleveleysbob
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:44 PM
Comment #55I’m pretty sure footballers get regular drug testing, so that comment by Villa fan was just stupid.
The Taco Taker
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:51 PM
Comment #56I am thinking a Chelsea win or a draw is best for us as I see Lpool as a bigger threat to a high league position for us than Chelsea. Chelsea have to get a lot of players to gel and recover for that season and I think that is a big job – Poch or no Poch.
Oh and multi-game tocuch-line ban for Klopp would of course be great. Pretty sure that I read somewhere that now if you are banned from the touchline then you are actually banned from the stadium, but not sure if that is true.
cleveleysbob
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:51 PM
Comment #57Quite a few comments today about selling players with Bruno, Miggy and Murphy all in the mix.
I thought we were desperate to get a good squad with depth in all areas? Not start selling off anyone considered superfluous to 1st 11.
Bonkers on here sometimes.
Of course players are going to leave at some point, but we shouldn’t be pushing them out the door prematurely, unless it’s Fraser, Hendrick, Hayden or Manquillo. 😆
cleveleysbob
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:53 PM
Comment #58That Liverpool line up looks a bit special on paper. Let’s see how they go.
Essex Geordie Bill
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:54 PM
Comment #59Bob
It was the ‘Suspiciously energetic’ phrase that made me laugh, reminded me of the time that China were allegedly using some kind of fungus to enhance their athletes performances. 🙂
Hope we aren’t going to start another monkey gland discussion! 🙂
Adamn_92
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:58 PM
Comment #60Cbob
Just seen the Liverpool lineup, basically got 4 defenders and 6 attack minded players in midfield and up top.
Looks super unbalanced with no midfielder really having that defensive side to their game. They’ll get destroyed in midfield by teams with a more well rounded midfield, like us for example. They were also super shaky in defence last season, so with no defensive protection ahead of them, I suspect they may leak goals again.
Adamn_92
Aug 13, 2023 at 3:59 PM
Comment #61Taco
Think the manager is allowed in the stadium, just not in the stands if they’re sent off. So have to watch the game out of sight indoors basically. Not allowed to do any post match interviews either.
The Taco Taker
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:05 PM
Comment #62Cleveley
I would not push any players except the ones you mention + Dubs out of the door.
But in a years time we will face the same issue as we do now in that in order to bring players in then we will have to let players go, and I see Murphy in the “at risk” group in that sense. Having said that though, Dummett, Ritchie, Schar, Lascelles, Wilson, Gillespie, Karius, Krafth, Manquillo and Hendrick will all be out of contract by then and I expect only a maybe a couple of them will be offered a new deal.
Technically there could be a lot of work to do next summer. But Anderson and Livramento would need to be named in the senior squad by then as they won’t meet the U21 criteria anymore. Would be great the see Alex Murphy and Miley emerge this season to help with depth, maybe Minteh and Kuol too.
The Taco Taker
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:07 PM
Comment #63Ah, I think you might be right there Adam, I knew I read something had changed in that regard.
Raj of Hailsley
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:09 PM
Comment #64Obviously where I was sitting then, L7 not renowned for singing 😕
catchy in norway
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:13 PM
Comment #65Check
The one thing I would neve say about Miggy is lack of effort, the kid Runs and runs,, I just think he is Very one footed, everything has to be on his left foot, which makes him a bit predictable, he wont very often try and get to the by line, and then there is his crossing, I dont think thats part of his game, he is all about pace and energy, which are 2 good attributes, but Both Barnes and Gordon have them and and a bit more.
The Taco Taker
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:14 PM
Comment #66Adam,
Also agree on the Lpool line-up, looks very unbalanced, could be great going forward but they will ship goals too unless/until they address the DM position.
Scythe
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:17 PM
Comment #67Liverpool and Chelsea benches both look weak. Only really Mudryk for Chelsea and Núñez for Liverpool who could really come on and make a difference for them if needed. We have a bit of depth at least and although there’s still time in the window for both to strengthen, so can we! 😀
Ace50
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:19 PM
Comment #68All players are subject to be randomly selected for drug testing straight after the match. There’s a room near the changing rooms where samples are collected. Not great if selected, as the players can be in there quite a while with being very dehydrated after the match.
Scythe
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:20 PM
Comment #69Adamn_92
Liverpool looked shaky at the back in their pre-season games and I expect them to remain so against Premier League opposition. They’ll probably concede two or three per game against the teams who have quality attackers so will have to hope they can bang in more at the other end, Keegan style.
Raj of Hailsley
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:21 PM
Comment #70That Lpool front six is like when I played FM years ago 😀
Ace50
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:22 PM
Comment #71Good point Catchy, re Miggy’s ‘one-footedness’. It is definitely a weakness and inhibits us at times. For example, on the opposite flank yesterday, we saw a beautiful left-footed cross put in by the predominantly right-footed Gordon that led to our opening goal.
I still value Miggy but there’s an eventual upgrade opportunity there.
Bigjim67
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:28 PM
Comment #72I thought the game would’ve been tight and niggely with us nicking it by the odd goal, what a performance though.
Gordon was MOM for me but Tonali looks world class, as does Isak.
We should fear no one if we play like that this season.
Dr Ed
You are an inspiration sir, thank you!
valle
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:30 PM
Comment #73A villa fan said this
“The media bumming of Newcastle is gross and relentless.”
What does it Mean?
catchy in norway
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:31 PM
Comment #74I dont Fancy Liverpools chances, they dont have a MF, just 5 forwards 1 MF and 4 defenders
Toon Fans Good
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:33 PM
Comment #75Mancini new Saudi manager
cleveleysbob
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:34 PM
Comment #76Taco/Adam, you’re both right but it reminds me of the Keegan, “we’ll score more than you” days.
They won’t win out but be fun to watch. A lot of 4-5 & 7-6 type results 😆
Ace50
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:34 PM
Comment #77Valle, it’s a metaphor but it just means they (the media) are very excited about us and waxing lyrical about us.
That Villa fan is clearly gutted because it was their team that got hammered.
The Taco Taker
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:34 PM
Comment #78Ladies and Gents,
I am not sure you appreciate the importance of today. I just found out that it is “National Mackem day”:
https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/people/14-things-youll-only-understand-if-youre-from-sunderland-as-we-mark-national-mackem-day-3342504
No wonder I saw tens of thousands of seagulls gathered over the north sea this morning!
I though it was hilarious that the Echo actually lists cheesy chips and pink slices as mackem “thing”
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:36 PM
Comment #79@Valle
It means that Villa fan in particular thinks there is a media love in for Newcastle
Which is quite funny as all we have heard in the UK over the last week is how Villa are going to overtake us and we will struggle this season…..
DKillers
Aug 13, 2023 at 4:36 PM
Comment #80I’d like to see Liverpool get smoked today.
What’s with Chelsea’s lack of a shirt sponsor? Saw it in the preseason and just assumed they’d have a new one for the opener.