Newcastle United beat Preston North End 4-1 at St. James’ Park to clinch promotion to the Premier League.
Newcastle’s Matt Ritchie celebrates scoring
Newcastle United are back in the Premier League after hammering Preston North End 4-1 at St. James’ Park, prompting celebration from Alan Shearer.
The Magpies saw Huddersfield lose 4-1 at home to Fulham over the weekend, meaning they knew that a win over Preston would send them back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Newcastle appeared to settle the nerves early on as Ayoze Perez bundled the ball home from close range after Preston couldn’t clear a corner, but North End hit back when Jordan Hugill flicked Tom Barkuizen’s cross into the net.
A mix-up between Daniel Johnson and Aiden McGeady set Newcastle away on the counter attack, with Christian Atsu finishing off from close range to send the Magpies into the break 2-1 up.
Newcastle’s Ayoze Perez celebrates scoring
Matt Ritchie made it 3-1 from the penalty spot after Paul Gallagher was sent off for a handball on the goal line, and Perez sealed a 4-1 win by again bundling home from a corner kick, with Hugill’s sliced clearance cannoning back off the post and straight to the Spaniard.
The final whistle sparked huge celebrations as Newcastle clinched promotion back to the top flight, with Rafael Benitez giving the Magpies fans the promotion they expected
Alan Shearer
After the final whistle, ex-Newcastle striker and boyhood fan Alan Shearer took to Twitter to celebrate, claiming that the Premier League is a better place with the Magpies in it once again.
Fellow former Newcastle players Steve Howey and Peter Lovenkrands congratulated the club and the fans for the promotion, with Tyneside in party mode tonight.
What did you think of Newcastle’s performance against Preston?
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