THE VERDICT: NEWCASTLE 2 TOWN 0 All Toon and gloom as the Terriers end up red-faced
TOWN RATED CONFIDENCE-SAPPED TOWN MUST PLAY FOR PRIDE WITH THE THREAT OF RELEGATION LOOMING LARGE
Thankless task battling on his own up front after the Smith dismissal, but did some solid defensive work at set pieces. FLO HADERGJONAJ: (Puncheon, 24) Was sacrificed after the Smith dismissal 5 PHILIP BILLING (Bacuna, 68) Didn’t really get chance to influence the match 5 STEVE MOUNIE (Depoitre, 75) The game was gone when he got into the action 5 SUBS NOT USED: Ben Hamer, Terence Kongolo, Jon Gorenc Stankovic, Karlan Grant. HUDDERSFIELD Town suffered a 20th Premier League defeat in 27 outings and look to be hurtling towards the drop.
It was a fourth successive defeat for new boss Jan Siewert as Newcastle took three points with goals from Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez at a St James’ Park ground packed with 52,174 fans, most of them jubilant Geordies.
The 20th-minute sending-off of Town skipper Tommy Smith proved pivotal and the head coach had to rejig after a positive start, but by the end Town looked a broken team – confidence shattered – and the misery of 13 defeats in 14 league games is weighing heavily on their shoulders.
Thankfully, Wolves are next up tomorrow night, so they don’t have to dwell long on this result, but in truth Town have only pride left to play for.
They don’t want to finish the season as the lowest ever scorers in the Premier League (20), and they still need a point to avoid having the joint worst record.
Smith will serve a three-match ban to compound his frustration.
Siewert made three changes to his starting line-up with the shock being in-form Adama Diakhaby missing out because of a hamstring injury suffered in training.
Jonas Lossl, as expected, returned after illness to replace Ben Hamer in goal, while Chris Lowe and Laurent Depoitre were selected in place of Terence Kongolo and Diakhaby.
Town, looking for a first win in 14 Premier League starts, had Jonathan Hogg making his 300th career appearance alongside Aaron Mooy and Juninho Bacuna in midfield, with Christopher Schindler and Mathias Jorgensen at the heart of defence, alongside full-backs Tommy Smith and Lowe.
Jason Puncheon and Elias Kachunga, who had recovered from a flu bug, were joined in attack by Depoitre in a 4-3-3 formation.
Erik Durm missed taking a place on the bench due to a slight hip problem which is not expected to rule him out against Wolves tomorrow night.
Newcastle, captained by Jamaal Lascelles, gave a first start to new Paraguayan strike signing Miguel Almiron.
The former Atlanta United player was playing just off Rondon and alongside Perez, giving them a trio of Spanish speakers up front in what was essentially a 3-4-3 formation.
Siewert was immediately out of the technical area to encourage his side in the opening moments.
And Newcastle were under pressure when Smith collected a pass from Puncheon and drilled a low cross which Fabian Schar managed to clear from in front of Depoitre.
Town, however, had a lucky escape on 11 minutes when they were opened up by Almiron on the break. His chipped shot rebounded off Lossl’s right-hand post and then, with Town struggling to recover, Salomon Rondon hit the same upright with the follow-up shot.
Lossl produced a terrific diving save to deny Rondon with 19 minutes gone and then, in the following Newcastle attack, Smith clattered into Almiron and saw a straight red card from referee Kevin Friend.
Town rejigged by sending on Flo Hadergjonaj for Puncheon, but Newcastle turned up the pressure, with Lossl again forced to save from Almiron, before Lowe cleared from near the line