Newcastle United beat Cardiff City 2-1 in the Championship.
Newcastle United bagged themselves another victory, beating Cardiff City 2-1 at St James’ Park, although it was a nervy final 10 minutes for Rafael Benitez’s side.
Karl Darlow 7/10 – Darlow will have been disappointed to concede late on, but was relatively untested other than Cardiff’s late goal. The goalkeeper has a relatively easy job when Newcastle defend so well.
DeAndre Yedlin 7/10 – Great pass to set up Newcastle’s second, drifting in from the touchline to slot Yoan Gouffran in. The American had a tough task marshalling Junior Hoillet, but managed to do a pretty good job of nullifying him.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez with DeAndre Yedlin
Jamaal Lascelles 8/10 – Dominant performance from the Newcastle captain. Cardiff threw a lot of long balls up to Rickie Lambert, but did not get a lot of joy from it, with Lascelles containing the big forward.
Ciaran Clark 9/10 – Man of the match. Yet again, Ciaran Clark was colossal in a black and white shirt. When he first arrived at the club, Clark was limited with the ball, but today he was brave in possession and looked comfortable throughout.
Paul Dummett 7.5/10 – An unsung hero for the Magpies against Cardiff, Dummett gave an honest performance at the back, and even looked better when he went forward. The left back should have scored in the first half, and should have had an assist to his name when his pull back for Mitrovic was skewed wide by the Serbian.
Newcastle’s Christian Atsu scores their first goal
Christian Atsu 7/10 – A first St James’ Park goal for Atsu was neatly taken, and it allowed Newcastle to dominate the first half with ease. A less impressive second half, with the Ghanaian showing his limitations without the ball, as well as conceding possession in dangerous areas.
Isaac Hayden 8/10 – A top class performance in the middle of the park from Hayden. The central midfielder was dynamic with his running and strong in the tackle. Having seen Colback start ahead of him a lot over the past month, Hayden made another statement that he should be first choice next to Jonjo Shelvey.
Jonjo Shelvey 7.5/10 – Not a vintage performance from Shelvey, but he was still able to conduct things in the middle. A few Hollywood passes failed to come off, as well as a couple of wild efforts on goal. Shelvey coasted through the game, and even had time for some showboating, Cruyffing a ball on the volley to a teammate.
Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey
Yoan Gouffran 7.5/10 – The Frenchman’s goal ended up being the match winner, and it was a neat finish after starting the move himself from the left. Gouffran is still yet to lose a game this season.
Ayoze Perez 6/10 – The Spanish forward showed flashes of his talent with a few neat touches, but went missing in the second half and was surprisingly kept on the pitch by Benitez.
Aleksandar Mitrovic 7.5/10 – Great performance from the forward, which he unfortunately did not cap off with a goal. Mitrovic’s brilliant work selflessly allowed Atsu to give Newcastle the lead, and throughout the game he held the ball up and brought his teammates into the game.
Newcastle’s Aleksandar Mitrovic in action with Cardiff ‘s Sol Bamba
SUBSTITUTES
Vurnon Anita (Gouffran 72) N/A – Anita did not have enough time to make an impact.
Mohamed Diame (Atsu 89) N/A – Diame did not have enough time to make an impact.
Newcastle players during a minutes silence as part of remembrance commemorations before the match
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