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Season 2023-24
Crystal Palace (h) Premier League

 

 
Date:
Saturday 21st October 2023, 3.00pm
(not on live UK TV)

Venue:
St. James' Park

Conditions: Incisive
 



Newcastle

Crystal Palace

 

4 - 0

 

 

Teams

Goals

4 mins Fabian Schar's crossfield pass from inside the centre circle picked out Kieran Trippier on the right flank outside the box and his first time ball into the area reached Jacob Murphy, who was positioned between Tyrick Mitchell and Joachim Andersen. He allowed the ball to bounce once before scooping it up right-footed and watching it drop behind Johnstone in the far side of the Gallowgate goal, Callum Wilson following in to make sure it crossed the line but not getting a touch.

Murphy's celebrations were almost immediately stifled as he turned and ran towards the referee's assistant on the Milburn Stand side, whose flag was raised to signify an offside. A slightly tardy confirmation of a VAR call arrived, which confirmed that Trippier wasn't in an illegal position when finding the goalscorer and the goal therefore stood.

Murphy later admitted that his intention was to cross rather than shoot. 1-0

44 mins Another fine flowing forward move was initiated by Schar deep in his own half, stepping forward and finding the unmarked Wilson in centre field. He spun and sprayed out a pass to Murphy, who headed into the Palace half with Trippier on the overlap and space ahead of both. 

Murphy's low teasing cross eluded Wilson but Anthony Gordon arrived behind him beyond the back post and thumped the ball home with a first-time left footer from inside the six yard box. 2-0

45+2 mins Trippier received a short pass in his own half on the edge of the centre circle, looked up and dropped a pass straight downfield towards Wilson just outside the Palace box. The presence of United's number 9 was crucial, doing just enough to unsettle Marc Guehi as he lunged forward but bungled his attempted clearance, chesting the ball too far forward to reach.

Sean Longstaff needed no second invitation, collecting the loose ball, eluding the slipping Guehi and heading into the box, settling himself and converting with a low effort to Johnstone's right from just outside the six yard box. 3-0

Half time: Magpies 3 Eagles 0

66 mins Nick Pope got down at his near post to take a low shot from Cheick Doucoure, before striding forward and rolling the ball out underarm to Trippier on the right. He turned and played a forward pass with his first touch, sending it into the path of Murphy on halfway.

Showing Mitchell a clean pair of heels he looked up and played a stupendous first pass into the Palace area, cutting Guehi and Andersen out and arriving at the feet of Callum Wilson

He took one touch with his right foot to kill the pace of the ball before steering it home back past the helpless Sam Johnstone. From Pope's hand to the back of the net took 10 seconds. Wow. 4-0

Full time: Magpies 4 Eagles 0

We Said

 

Eddie Howe said:

"Very good especially in the first half.

"I thought we were really clinical - some really nice passages of play, I thought we created some crossing opportunities, some good goalscoring opportunities. 

"Second half it was a case of just managing the game and making sure we kept players fit and fresh for what's ahead but delighted with the attitude of the players.

"The fourth goal was probably in my mind where the game was hopefully won from our perspective and it gave me the chance to take same players off who have played international football and travelled a long way so that was important today.

"It was a really important game today and we can’t underestimate how tough those games are because you don’t have a full squad. We’re having to manage players that have come a long way and had a big mental load for their country so I’m really pleased with the players’ response to that.

"These are very tough games. Crystal Palace don’t concede a lot of goals, we knew the first goal today was going to be really, really important and thankfully we got it quite early.”

On Jacob Murphy: 

"I thought he was excellent today, I thought he did really well with Sean (Longstaff) and Kieran (Trippier) alongside him. He was a constant threat behind, he's a very very good footballer, he's scored important goals for us.  

"He's a big player. He was huge for us last year. He picked up a couple of injuries in pre-season. Huge contribution today when we needed it. He's a very reliable player and a great professional, so he's a huge part of our squad.

"That first goal was huge in the match because Crystal Palace defend very well. The earlier we got that first goal the better from our perspective and I was delighted with him overall."

On Anthony Gordon:

"He has to score being an attacking player - that's for sure - but he wants to score; he is very driven by scoring and creating. He could have had another today and I am delighted with his contribution."

On Joelinton:

"Important to get him back on the pitch. He had some really good training in the last two weeks, so I had no doubt he would perform today. But he still needs the minutes - he's a big presence in our midfield."

On Sandro Tonali:

"No idea regarding that (the timeline for his investigation) but absolute class from our supporters today, I thought they supported him, backed him. 

"Sandro will leave here I think heartened by our supporters reaction to him: I was immensely proud of them.

"It sort of came to me just as we were starting our walk that I wanted him to be at the front and to see the love closer up. The reception was incredible and emotional. He is a human being going through a very emotional time."

On Sean Longstaff:

"Sean, himself, will work hard on his finishing. He’s a player who regularly does extra work with the coaches. I’ve always said I believe he’s a goalscorer – he’s a very, very good finisher in training, with both feet and from all angles. 

"For me, scoring more consistently is something he can do with the ability that he has. It’s just about getting himself into the right positions, but I thought he did that really well today. He played very intelligently and took his goal really well.”

On missing players:

"Joe (Willock) has trained but needs a bit more and possibly a game before playing again. Sven (Botman) is a little further back and we haven't seen him in training yet. We're hoping to increase his load but he won't be around for a couple of weeks."

On the passing of Sir Bobby Charlton: 

"A huge loss for Sir Bobby's family and for football; an absolute icon of the game. 

"I was made aware very young of what he contributed to England and Manchester United. I was fortunate enough to meet him a few times; what an absolute gentleman as well."

They Said

 

Roy Hodgson said:

"We came here thinking and believing that we could give Newcastle a good game and maybe even make life a little bit difficult for them, but we fell woefully short in that department.

Our first half was really nowhere near what we have been able to do up until now. They are a hard team to defend against. But it didn’t work out. At half-time, we were looking at salvaging something from the game and not going away totally and utterly dejected and because we conceded even more goals than the ones we conceded.

“Nothing really positive to say from our point of view - we have to analyse and make certain we work out why a team that has been very, very compact defensively, very strong and made so few errors which have cost us goals, suddenly did so.

"I thought we were somewhat unfortunate with the first goal – that didn’t help. It was a freak goal. If we had scored it I would have been delighted, but it’s a tough goal to have against you after a few minutes.

"There’s nothing I’d want to say to take away from the Newcastle performance. It was as good as we half-expected it would be because they’re a very, very good team, but it doesn’t unfortunately help me in any way because I don’t think we came anywhere near the football we’re capable of playing, both defensively and offensively.

"To come here and lose is one thing, but it’s hard to accept coming and losing as comprehensively as we have done today, and with a few players who are going to be looking tomorrow morning, assessing their performances and coming up probably with the same conclusion I’ve come up with: we just weren’t anywhere near good enough.

"To be fair, I suppose the two goals that came in the 45th and 47th minute didn’t help us because coming out for the second-half at 0-3 against such a good team was always going to make life unbelievably uncomfortable.

"Had it been 0-1, we could have maybe made a slightly better fist of the game, but I can’t say they didn’t deserve to come in at 3-0 because Newcastle created a lot of chances and played very well.

"We made mistakes of course. Several of the goals and chances were uncharacteristic mistakes which the defenders and midfielders haven’t been making. That’s one thing, but you never know what it is in a game that causes you to collapse a little bit in terms of what we’ve been privileged to see from this team.

"In fact, at half-time, one of the coaches rightly said that this is our first under-par performance in the first eight league games, and now we’ve got to do something about it in the second-half.

"Maybe on Monday I’ll be able to have a similarly philosophical view about it, but at the moment, it’s difficult to take that a team we thought could come here and give Newcastle a very good game weren’t able to today.

“We need to make certain then we don’t find ourselves in a similar situation because as good as Newcastle are, there are quite a few other teams in the league equally as good with equally as good players, equally as well-organised, equally as physical and equally as capable of running a lot, so we have to bear that in mind and, if we’re going to compete at all with these teams and in this league, we need to come to terms with it.”

On the death of Sir Bobby Charlton:

"I was privileged to meet him on quite a few occasions. My thoughts tonight are with Norma and their children. It’s a really sad day. I know they’ll be devastated.

“Sir Bobby Charlton doesn’t need any words from me other than to say, perhaps, we are talking about a true legend of the game and a true legend of English football and Manchester United.

“That 1966 team will always be an iconic team we look to and today we unfortunately lost another great player and a really important member of that team. I was really sad to hear the news and I can only wish Norma and their children all the best and strength to come through the grieving process.”

Stats


This was Newcastle's largest-ever league win over Palace in 45 meetings. The previous best margin of victory has been 3-0, achieved at Selhurst Park in both 1969 and 2013. 

In all competitions, today's margin of victory matched a 6-2 FA Cup home win over Palace in 1947 and a 5-1 Anglo Italian Cup success at SJP in 1973.

Eddie Howe's side are now unbeaten in their last eight league and cup outings, winning each of their last five home fixtures in all competitions.

Callum Wilson hit his 43rd PL goal for Newcastle to draw level with Shola Ameobi and Andy Cole. Only Peter Beardsley on 46 and Alan Shearer on 148 now lie ahead of him. Wilson's 43 came in 82 appearances (63 starts) while Shola's took 293 (156 starts). 

Jacob Murphy now has nine PL goals as a Magpie, level with Jamal Lascelles and one behind both Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar.

Sean Longstaff's sixth goal in the PL and 11th in all competitions was his third of the season, matching his previous best total for Newcastle (three in 2022/23).

Anthony Gordon bagged a third PL goal of the season and now has four for United, scoring them in his last nine PL games (eight starts). His PL total for Everton was seven in 65 games (42 starts).

In terms of competitive senior games, we believe that this the first example of Newcastle making a quadruple substitution at one time. They did bring on four players in the closing seconds of May's PL home win over Brighton, but play briefly resumed between the first and second pair appearing.

Eagles @ Magpies - PL era:

2023/24 Won 4-0 Murphy, Gordon, Longstaff, Wilson
2022/23 Drew 0-0 (won 3-2 on pens) (LC)
2022/23
Drew 0-0
2021/22
Won 1-0 Almiron
2020/21 Lost 1-2 Shelvey
2019/20 Won 1-0 Almiron
2018/19 Lost 0-1
2017/18 Won 1-0 Merino
2015/16 Won 1-0 Townsend
2014/15 Drew 3-3 Janmaat, Aarons, Williamson
2013/14 Won 1-0 Cisse
2009/10 Won 2-0 og(Derry), Ranger
2004/05 Drew 0-0
2001/02 Won 2-0 Shearer, Acuna (FAC)
1998/99 Won 2-1 Speed, Shearer (FAC)
1997/98 Lost 1-2 Shearer
1994/95 Won 3-2 Fox, Lee, Gillespie

Full record v Palace:
 
  P W D L F A
SJP 23 14 5 4 31 13
SP 22 9 6 7 26 21
League 45 23 11 11 57 34
SJP(FA) 6 5 0 1 13 4
SP 0 0 0 0 0 0
SJP(LC) 1 0 1 0 0 0
SP 1 1 0 0 3 2
Cup 8 6 1 1 16 6
Tot 53 29 12 12 73 40

 

Waffle

As the latest bout of extreme weather tested flood defences across the country, Roy Hodgson's side fell victim to lightning strikes at St.James' Park and were inundated by Storm Jacob.

Newcastle returned from the international break on Saturday to emphatically down an Eagles side who had shut them out in all three league and cup meetings last season, but had no answer to the precision, pace and power that could have seen them conceding far more than four goals. 

Eddie Howe made four changes to the side that drew 2-2 at West Ham; selecting Callum Wilson and Joelinton after positive fitness checks, calling upon Anthony Gordon following his suspension and handing Jacob Murphy his first Premier League start since last May.

Miguel Almiron, Elliot Anderson and Alexander Isak all dropped down to the bench, alongside Sandro Tonali - the latter making what was anticipated to be his final appearance ahead of a looming ban following his admissions of using illegal gambling websites and betting on football while at AC Milan.

United were en route to their fifth successive home victory within five minutes, Murphy's hopeful first-time effort looping into the Gallowgate End net and withstanding a VAR offside check.

That was the first of several memorable moments from the right winger, centring for Gordon to strike the goal frame from close in and getting a decent shot off to test visiting 'keeper Sam Johnstone.

The continual space Murphy found down the Newcastle right in tandem with Kieran Trippier then led to what looked like a clinching second goal in the 44th minute, Gordon firing in from close range. 2-0 then became 3-0 almost immediately as Sean Longstaff exploited some defensive slackness. 

Into the second half and an inspired Murphy was at it again, sending over another dangerous ball that looked to have presented Gordon with a tap-in before Joel Ward's last-gasp intervention saw him deflect it over the crossbar. Murphy wasn't to be denied another assist though, another foray down the flank seeing him tee up Callum Wilson to net on 66 minutes. 

That made it an incredible 16 goals during the last four league outings and pushed the scoring tally to 29 goals in all competitions from dozen league and cup games. That figure was 10 at the same point in Steve Bruce's first season, with a chunk of today's team on the field back in 2019.

Wilson took his leave seconds later as the hosts made a rare quadruple substitution, Tonali coming on amid great applause from home fans, who earlier sang his name loud and long as he warmed up.

There was to be no further scoring; a late Palace flurry seeing Pope race off his line to head a through ball clear before tipping a rare effort on target away from an Odsonne Eduoard free kick. 

The outcome was emphatic enough though; an Eagles side now shorn of Wilfried Zaha unable to call on his successor Eberchi Eze due to injury and reliant on defence due to paucity of their attack.

While that hasn't really changed from last season, our approach to combating it and unpicking their backline has evolved; inventive passing and attacking flowing through the side; be it Schar, Trippier, Bruno, Gordon or Murphy and whether in or out of possession. The press that we routinely deploy to great effect was noticeably less evident here today.

A brace of strikers getting on the end of chances is also a massive positive, although this is far more than a two man show: just 12 of those 29 goals came from heads or boots of Wilson and Isak.

Perhaps this is what sets this current squad apart; no single player has Messianic status due to an over-reliance on them coming up with the goods - although having said though, the sheer presence of Trippier on the field is now on a par with prime Alan Shearer. From Gordon Lee's "no stars" policy to Eddie's "all stars" or at least a side stacked with what in other years would be cult heroes.

At face value, the inbound activity of last summer and the current situation of those signings has prompted questions over the recruitment policy and the perpetual misfortune that has dogged us. Barnes crocked, Tonali with a ban looming, Hall and Livramento peripheral figures so far.

That we've taken that in our stride and prospered since the Brighton setback is a reflection on the levels of care, effort and preparation going in. To have done that for the most part without messrs Willock and Botman but with the likes of Murphy and Lascelles is verging on the unbelievable. 

On to the next episode then, another almighty Champions League tussle. What a time to be here.

Biffa


Page last updated 24 June, 2024