ABSOLUTELY FAB-ULOUS!
SCHAR NETS SCREAMER AS UNITED BEAT BURNLEY
NEWCASTLE United boss Rafa Benitez calmly folded his glasses back into their case and pushed them neatly back into his pocket at St James’ Park.
It was the signal that his side had just recorded another important win to make it four successive victories in the Premier League with Burnley the latest side to be floored on home turf by the black and whites.
Here United gave themselves a solid platform to take the points after first half goals from Sean Longstaff and an absolute stunner from Fabian Schar.
Schar’s goal resulted in his name trending around the world on social media but it was the icing on the cake for the man of the match as he controlled the game.
Indeed, he enjoyed 86 touches and proved to be United’s pass master with 64 in a totally dominant display.
The game had started in cautious fashion as both sides tried to retain possession.
When things settled down it was United who took control, and Matt Ritchie was able to swing in a left-wing cross after six minutes but nobody was able to connect despite, Rondon lurking at the back post at the Leazes End.
On 10 minutes Miguel Almiron picked the ball up on the edge of the box, however, he could only fire his shot wide despite getting a fair amount of power behind it.
Moments later, Almiron won a right-wing corner after he attempted to get in a cross.
Ritchie played the set-piece short to Sean Longstaff who whipped the ball into the box before Fabian Schar headed at goal only for Jack Cork to deflect it back to his own keeper.
In a tough contest, Longstaff then picked up a yellow card for a foul on Jack Cork.
But the game exploded into life after Swiss ace Schar scored an absolute howitzer to beat England goalie Tom Heaton all ends up. Heaton had been credited at the weekend for keeping out Harry Kane from a similar distance in the 2-1 win over Spurs.
However, he didn’t get a sniff of this one with 24 minutes on the clock.
Burnley failed to clear their lines with Javier Manquillo feeding the ball to Schar who smacked a 25-yard effort from long range with the ball clattering off the post to put United 1-0 up.
Schar celebrated the goal wildly with fans and teammates but Newcastle were soon indebted to another save from Martin Dubravka.
After Burnley tossed the ball in from the right it was caught by Ashley Barnes but the Slovakian stopper made a superb block to keep his side in the lead.
Newcastle gave themselves breathing space on 38 minutes after a move that was started and finished by Longstaff.
The Geordie midfielder won possession in the middle before zipping the ball to Almiron who picked out Ritchie on the lefthand side.
Ritchie’s cross evaded everybody but fell to Longstaff at the back post who controlled and finished well to double the lead and grab his first Premier League goal. Burnley squandered a chance to get back into the game when James Tarkowski blazed over from close range after a rare defensive lapse.
But Newcastle went in with two-goal cushion at half-time and were good value for their advantage.
The second half started with another Ritchie cross as he tried to pick out Ayoze Perez but the Spaniard failed to latch on and a chance to kill the game drifted by.
With 52 minutes gone, Almiron raced forward down the left and tried to dink the ball at Heaton but the keeper managed to block his shot.
Schar - who was being urged to shoot by the crowd every time he picked up the ball - tried his luck from distance again on 65 minutes but this time it flew over the top.
Both Rondon and Almiron tried shots inside the box as United tried to seal the deal, but neither could get their efforts on target.
Burnley tried to change things with 20 minutes to go when former England international Peter Crouch came on for the visitors to replace Barnes.
Crouch - no stranger to scoring against United after doing so with various clubs - ensured the game would end with an uneasy feel for United as the visitors posed some late questions of the Toon defence.
Almiron sent a shot over the top a minute later while Jamaal Lascelles’
The game exploded into life after Swiss ace Schar scored an absolute howitzer to beat England goalie Tom Heaton
header soon after failed to worry Burnley. With 10 minutes remaining Benitez opted to take Almiron off to give Paul Dummett a run out before the Magpies replaced Longstaff with Mo Diame, a decision influenced by his earlier yellow card.
Benitez made his third and final change as Joselu came on for the final few minutes to replace Perez.
Burnley almost pulled one back after a goalmouth scramble and whipped in a few testing balls into the box but Newcastle held on to the clean sheet.
Ritchie could have added gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time but took a bad touch before firing wide.
But it mattered not, Newcastle are in fine form now and with 30 points in the bag they are within swinging distance of securing Premier League status for another year.
As the fans chanted Benitez’s name constantly for the last 10 minutes - the board surely know there is only one thing to do now when it comes to his future.