Newcastle manage their first victory of the campaign after defeating Sean Dyche’s Burnley at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.

Eddie Howe’s side faced a second relegation match-up in as many matches and were keen to build on the disappointing draw against Norwich on Tuesday – they hoped to keep 11 men on the field for the full 90 minutes.

It was a dreadful affair between two very mediocre teams in front of 52,000 fans who were starved of any quality on the day.

Newcastle made it 1-0 at the end of the first half and held on to claim the spoils after being under siege for most of the closing stages.

Striker Callum Wilson was first to react after a goalkeeping error from Nick Pope and calmly smashed the loose ball into the roof of the net above the Burnley defender on the line. 

Despite complaints from the Burnley ‘keeper, the goal was awarded. Pope thought he had been impeded but VAR disagreed.

The home side pushed for a second in the final 45 and dominated for large periods… But as usual, the final ten minutes were extremely tense as the Magpies held on to move off bottom spot.

There was a collective “GET IN” as referee Paul Tierney blew the full-time whistle. The win came as a relief to the Geordie’s who have had very little to cheer so far this campaign.

Claiming their first three points of the season means Newcastle have hope of survival, but Howe’s side will know there is still a long way to go if they are to retain their Premier League status.

The fans will hope this is just the start and are looking for the team to build from the victory heading into an extremely difficult festive period which sees the Magpies facing Leicester (A), Liverpool (A) Manchester City (H) and Manchester United (H) in the next four games.

But for now; a first win, AT LAST!

Howe gets Newcastle’s first win

The importance of the must-win game at SJP wasn’t lost on anyone pre-match and the Geordie faithful certainly helped their side over the line in the final stages. 

It was the away side who started the brightest. Maxwell Cornet sent an effort wide from range, before Johan Berg Gudmundsson rattled the crossbar. 

After some decent build-up play, Josh Brownhill slotted his Icelandic team-mate in down the right, but Gudmundsson’s shot could only find the side of the post. 

Winger Cornet went close again on 21 minutes. Taylor did well down the right and when his initial cross was blocked, he found Ashley Westwood who played the ball to Dwight McNeil. His cross made its way to Cornet who glanced his header towards goal, but Dubravka saved well in the Newcastle net. 

The home side got their first glance at goal moments later. Allan Saint-Maximin played a sublime chip into the path of Wilson who managed to get a shot away. However, Taylor was there for Burnley to stick out a foot and make an impressive block. 

The much-needed breakthrough came minutes later.

Willock put in an average cross from the left that seemed to be heading straight into the grasp of ‘keeper Pope. But when Fabian Schar challenged for the ball, it slipped from the Englishman’s hands.

Wilson was the quickest to react and made space in the box before firing the ball into the roof of the open net.

The second half started in a similar fashion as the end of the first. Newcastle continued to build pressure and when Willson found Almiron’s driving run through the heart of the Clarets defence it could quite easily have been two.

The Paraguayan international placed a decent effort towards the bottom right corner before Pope diverted it wide – a fingertip save.

After racking up a succession of corners, the fans got right behind the team once again but the Magpies were unable to make the pressure count. 

Almiron again fired towards goal before his shot was headed over the bar by a Burnley defender for yet another corner – it was destined for the top left corner. 

Then came a moment of predictable deja vu as the visitors finished off a well-worked counter attack.

However, after the neat build up play and finish from Rodriguez the flag went up – much to the joy of the home supporters who held the breathe as VAR intervened to confirm the offside decision. 

The visitors pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages as the Toon defence were under siege as Burnley went even more route one. The ball fell to Wood and McNeil in the box on two separate occasions but both shot wide as Newcastle secured their first league win of the season. 

Howe’s side have moved off the foot of the Premier League table after the crucial victory and will be hoping to take the much-needed momentum with them on the journey to Leicester next weekend. 

Can the Magpies use their first three points to spark their season into life?

PLAYER RATINGS

NUFC:

Dubravka (6), Manquillo (6), Schar (7), Lascelles (7), Lewis (6), Shelvey (7), Willock (6), Almiron (7), Saint-Maximin (7), Wilson (8), Joelinton (7)

Subs: Fernandez (n/a), Murphy (n/a)

Burnley:

Pope (6), Lowton (6), Tarkowski (6), Collins (6), Taylor (7), Gudmundsson (6), Brownhill (6), McNeil (7), Wood (5), Cornet (6)

Subs: Vydra (5), Roberts (6), Rodriguez (5)

MANAGERS COMMENTS

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe:

“It’s an amazing feeling. The supporters at the end – wow, incredible. The reception they’ve given us all the way through, even with some difficult results, has been exceptional. I was so pleased for the fans that we got the win we desperately needed, it gives everyone a huge lift.

He added:

“I don’t think we started the game well, but I thought we got a lot better as the game went on. The last period of the game, given we haven’t won for so long, was always going to be nervy, but I thought we dealt with it pretty well. When we went to five a back, we looked more solid at the end of the game and the clean sheet is a massive bonus for us.

“Hopefully we can continue to foster the spirit that we’ve generated in a few weeks. Hopefully we can go on to good things. We needed a win; draws aren’t going to keep us in this league. This will give everyone a lift.”

Burnley manager Sean Dyche:

“I thought it was a foul at the time, but I was a long way away. Having looked at it back, I think it was just a clumsy challenge from their player but not a foul.

“We had a strong first half, we looked the more likely [to score] but one mistake ends up defining the whole game. The goal got them out of jail a little bit because I thought we were playing well at the time.”

He added:

“You could smell us getting an equaliser which we did, but it was chalked off for offside. There was a feeling we would nick something, but we didn’t. Sometimes it goes against you, and it did today.”