London was calling and Newcastle answered with a 1-0 win in their final dress rehearsal before Sunday’s big Carabao Cup final.
It wasn’t pretty, with both the Magpies and West Ham appearing to be stuck in the mud for vast portions of the game, but Howe’s side got the job done thanks to a lunging strike from their talismanic Brazilian skipper.
Newcastle huffed and puffed, but they were able to get the job done and collect a valuable three points following a spell of disappointing performances.
If they wanted a confidence boost, they certainly got it, and with Liverpool bowing out of the Champions League on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, the Reds showed themselves to be far from unbeatable.
As we edge closer to Sunday afternoon, let’s take a closer look at where we find ourselves this week. As always, I’m Sam, and welcome to the Toon Review!
If Newcastle needed sparks of life, it was right now. With the Carabao Cup final on the horizon, Howe’s side were desperate to right the wrongs of the past week or so. And believe me, there were a lot of wrongs to right.
The game itself at the London Stadium was certainly not one for the archives. It was scrappy, tense, and both sides struggled to find much creativity. For both teams, passes went awry, touches were heavy, and it wasn’t until mid-way through the second half that the deadlock was broken. Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola must be commended for a breathtaking array of saves that kept the game at 0-0, including a heroic stop that prevented an own goal from his own defender.
Bruno’s 63rd minute goal will not go down as one of the more beautiful of his United career, but it may go down as one of the more important strikes. Equally important, though, was the defensive effort that followed the captain’s strike. West Ham tried fruitlessly to break down a Newcastle defense that showed itself to be much improved from recent outings, and that is crucial going into the Liverpool game at Wembley.
Overall, it was a wonderfully scrappy display from Newcastle away from home, led by a talismanic performance from captain Bruno. You can’t win them all beautifully, and Monday night was a war of attrition won by a United side who came out of the scrap heap on top. They dug in, and got a crucial three points that keeps the Magpies in the hunt for a top 5 (or dare I say top 4…) finish.
“It was a big win for us today in terms of our Premier League aspirations. We can’t let the teams above us get too far away.”
“We have an amazing group of players and I don’t say that lightly. They want to do well.”
“I was so pleased with how we adapted to the game and how we dug in. We haven’t done that well enough recently, but today was back to us being hard to score against.”
On the travelling fans: “I appreciate the difficulty of getting here from Newcastle. The least we can do is give everything to try and win. You can never guarantee it but you can try to give everything you can.”
On Bruno’s performance: “He had to play a captain’s role today, because the heart of the midfield is where the game was won and lost. Full credit to Bruno for saying those words last week [on social media following the Brighton loss] and then delivering the performance he did today.”
On upcoming Carabao Cup Final against Liverpool: “Today gave us a real shot of belief that we need especially after the week that we’ve just had.”
“We’re looking forward to it. We can’t wait for the game. The preparation is all part of the excitement. We want to give a good representation of ourselves as a team and as a football club, and hopefully do our supporters proud.”
Newcastle are watching Ipswich’s Liam Delap, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Lille’s Jonathan David with back-up plans in place should Alexander Isak depart (Craig Hope, The Mail)
Colombian talent Néiser Villarreal is on Newcastle United’s wish list as he prepares to depart Millonarios (SPORT)
Sean Longstaff is open to leaving Newcastle this summer and has interest from Everton (TalkSPORT)
Newcastle want Strasbourg’s 22-year-old Dutch forward Emanuel Emegha, but could be challenged by West Ham. (CaughtOffside)
Moise Kean is a player Newcastle ‘very much like’ after his impressive form at Fiorentina (Calciomercato)
On this day in 1994, home supporters at St James’ were treated to a goal-fest for the ages, as Newcastle put Swindon Town to the sword and smashed 7 past the hapless visitors. The score at half-time was only 2-0, but United turned up the intensity in the second half, with the final score being 7-1.
Goals came courtesy of braces from Peter Beardsley, Rob Lee and Steve Watson, as well as a single strike from Ruel Fox. John Moncur got on the scoresheet for the visitors in the 77th minute, but at 5-1 the game was long dead by that point. It was a bit surprising that Andy Cole didn’t find himself a goal, given the legendary forward started the match up front for the Magpies.
Also, on this day in 1997, fan-favourite former winger Allan Saint-Maximin was born. Many happy returns, Allan!
Liverpool (Wembley)
With that important win at West Ham coupled with the fact that there may be one or two injury woes for the Reds, Newcastle have gained a little bit more hope going into Sunday’s big final. We will of course be without Anthony Gordon and Lewis Hall, two key regulars, but Liverpool will now be without a key player of their own, Trent Alexander-Arnold. Whether this makes much of a difference remains to be seen.
We saw the kind of mental atmosphere that Newcastle fans can create in the capital two years ago, and the players on the pitch at Wembley will need every bit of that again this time round. It wasn’t to be then, but maybe, just maybe, it will be now.
Howay Newcastle. All we ask is that you do us proud on the big stage.
HWTL.
It’s that time of the week again! Well done to those of you who got last week’s trivia question correct. I asked you at which club former United boss Alan Pardew started his managerial career. The correct answer was in fact Reading. Bonus points if you got the year too: 1999.
With Wembley beckoning, in what year did the original Wembley Stadium open? Here’s a hint: It was a long, long time ago!
That’ll be all for this week. I’ll be back at some stage next week after Sunday’s game.
Let’s hope it’s to celebrate.
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