Stuart Pearce was not overly impressed with Newcastle’s narrow 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Rafa Benitez.
Stuart Pearce believes Newcastle are capable of better despite beating Crystal Palace by one goal to nil on Saturday afternoon at St. James’ Park.
The Toon struggled to break Roy Hodgson’s Eagles down until the last five minutes, when Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino rose highest from a corner to head home a Matt Ritchie cross.
The score remained the same and Newcastle celebrated their fourth league win of the season from nine, which also sees them rise to a lofty seventh place in the Premier League table.
Merino after scoring Newcastle’s winner.
However, Pearce told Sky Sports that despite the 1-0 win being an important result, he stated that the performance was not as good as the Toon’s stars are capable of, grading the victory with a B+.
“A great result for Newcastle,” Pearce said. “The key driver for this one is more the result than the performance.
“To beat a team that are going to be in and around you at the end of the season was massive. The performance wasn’t great but you take three points and move on.”
The Toon celebrate after scoring late on.
Palace had come into the game off the back of a surprise 2-1 victory over Premier League champions Chelsea, but could not hold out for 90 minutes against Benitez’s Toon.
Newcastle were given plenty of possession but were tasked with breaking down a resolute Palace side, which they struggled to do right until the end of the match to the despair of Palace players and fans.
Benitez’s side are next in action against Burnley as they travel to Turf Moor to face Sean Dyche’s side on Monday night, with three points enough to take them into the top four if results go their way.
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