Newcastle United beat Cardiff City 2-1 at St James’ Park.
It was not pretty, but Newcastle United completed another victory this weekend, beating Cardiff City 2-1 thanks to goals from Christian Atsu and Yoan Gouffran.
Neil Warnock’s side threatened a comeback when Peter Whittingham scored in the 77th minute, but the Magpies held on to win. Still top of the Championship, here are five things we learned from Newcastle’s win over Cardiff.
Complacency nearly reared its ugly head
Newcastle coasted to a 2-0 lead in the first half without really trying, and they appeared to take the foot even further off the gas in the second half.
Rafael Benitez’s side played one of their worst halves of football in the second half against Cardiff, and it almost cost them when the Welsh side pulled a goal back with just over 10 minutes to go. Newcastle need to remain focused for 90 minutes and see out the game rather than putting themselves under pressure.
Signing Ciaran Clark was an inspired decision
Who really expected Ciaran Clark to be Newcastle’s best centre-back this season? The former Aston Villa man was colossal again and is starting to look so comfortable in a black and white shirt.
Clark’s partnership with Jamaal Lascelles is one of the reasons Newcastle have done so well in recent months. The defender had gone through a tough period at Villa, but the move to the North East has rejuvenated his career, so much so that the limited defender even had time for some showboating against Cardiff, popping out a silky Cruyff turn early in the first half.
Atsu picked up where Ritchie left off, but needs to work harder defensively
The Ghanaian’s goal in the third minute gave Newcastle lift off, and Atsu’s impact in the final third showed yet again just how capable he is of filling in for Matt Ritchie.
The one area he needs to work on is his defensive work. Too often in the second half Atsu made a half-hearted attempt to win the ball back, and his inabilities without the ball could have cost Newcastle, had Cardiff done better with their deliveries into the box.
Ayoze Perez, MIA
The Spaniard had appeared to begin to settle into Championship life, scoring twice against Ipswich Town in their previous home game, but you would be excused for thinking Perez was not even playing against Cardiff.
Perez showed some neat touches in the first half, and linked up well with Aleksandar Mitrovic early on to create the opening goal, but the forward was nowhere near the action in the second period, with his teammates appearing to carry him through to the final whistle.
Newcastle are going to be scary when the shackles come off
Not for the first time this season Benitez’s men won without really have to get out of first gear. Twice they turned the style on against Cardiff and both times they scored.
For large portions of the second half, Newcastle went through the motions and did not really do much to try to breach the Cardiff defence for a third time.
This was Newcastle’s eighth consecutive win in league and cup, and this run can go on and on if and when the Magpies decide to really take the shackles off.
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