United clinch crucial victory
MAGPIES BREAK THEIR HOODOO AS DEFENCE SHINES THROUGH
IT was a case of three cheers for Newcastle United’s three-man defence at Turf Moor.
For this victory came courtesy of contributions from Rafa Benitez’s reshuffled rearguard as they helped win the game with a series of key moments at either end of the field.
Much had been made of the absences of captain Jamaal Lascelles and hamstring injury victim Paul Dummett but the Magpies boss found a winning solution which helped guide United to a third successive top-flight victory.
A deflected strike from Federico Fernandez and Ciaran Clark’s brilliant flicked header paved the way for victory in Lancashire.
After that it was all about topnotch defending as Newcastle made life hard for themselves – but they saw the job out professionally in the end.
Despite a half-hour delay as referees’ assessor Eddie Wolstenholme was taken ill before kick-off, United could not have asked for a better start.
Mo Diame forced a corner after his shot spun off Ben Mee but after the set-piece broke down the Magpies profited from a situation that originally broke down.
First, DeAndre Yedlin’s cross was cleared by Chris Wood before the ball eventually dropped for Fernandez.
The former Argentina international then curled the ball into the net and over Joe Hart via a deflection off Mee with just four minutes on the clock.
Burnley looked to respond on nine minutes but Fabian Schar playing in a three-man defensive system - got back to clear the danger.
The Magpies were let off the hook on 13 minutes when Matthew Lowton’s cross to the back post fell for Wood but he blazed it hopelessly high and wide.
Amazingly, the Australian’s miss would not be the worst of the evening.
Wood then struck one from distance on 21 minutes but while Martin Dubravka’s unorthodox save was uneasy on the eye it still did the trick for the black-and-whites.
Nobody was talking about that three minutes later though.
Salomon Rondon forced another corner on the right-hand side after Newcastle broke with purpose out wide.
The corner was worked short with Matt Ritchie’s perfect cross finding Clark who glanced the ball beyond Hart and into the bottom corner to double United’s lead on 23 minutes.
At that stage, Newcastle looked like they were going to stroll to victory.
But Burnley had other ideas and hauled themselves back into the contest five minutes before the break.
A long ball was lumped into the box from the left-hand side by Mee before Sam Vokes rose high to loop the ball over Dubravka and into the bottom corner after getting above Clark.
Given Vokes’ header was from 17 yards it was preventable from a United point of view and even the Burnley man seemed a little surprised he’d hit the jackpot from such an unusual position.
In the last regulation minute of the first half Dubravka pulled off a fine stop to deny Wood.
It meant after imposing themselves on the game for the first 35 minutes or so, the Magpies ended the half under the cosh.
If anything the sound of the halftime whistle came as a relief to Benitez as it gave him the opportunity to regroup during the interval.
The Magpies had a great chance to extend their lead five minutes into the second half as Yedlin played the ball across the face of goal but
Ritchie, who got in front of his marker and only had the task of tapping home, somehow blazed it wide.
It was a horrendous miss and it seemed to get worse after every TV replay.
With 54 minutes played the ball fell for Kenedy from long range but he blazed over.
Just after the hour mark, the Magpies had another opportunity in the Burnley penalty area but after Ayoze Perez dinked the ball into the path of Ritchie, this time he was unable to get the ball under control.
With 17 minutes to go another chance dropped for Wood right in front of goal but the New Zealand striker could only scoop it high into the stands.
The visitors almost grabbed an insurance goal with 10 minutes left.
Perez’s clever pass picked out substitute Joselu who made a fine run into the box but his effort struck the base of the post to keep Burnley in the game going into the final stages.
As Burnley threw keeper Hart forward, the Magpies almost broke and forced the ball into the unguarded goal but Perez opted to chip the ball forward and a Burnley defender managed to scurry back and clear the danger.
There was still time for Wood to head over from a late free-kick but Newcastle deservedly held on for their third successive win.