NEWCASTLE ............................................................ 2 There’s so Almiron with
NEWCASTLE United took a step closer to Premier League survival after a convincing win over rock-bottom Huddersfield Town.
On a day when Miguel Almiron ran the show on his home debut, with the crowd purring every time he got on the ball, both Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez provided the goals to ease relegation fears on Tyneside.
Almiron was given a standing ovation as he left the field in the closing stages after he had run the Terriers ragged.
He showed no jitters in front of a crowd of more than 52,000 and gelled magnificently with his new team-mates.
Almiron was welcomed by a banner in Spanish, reading: “Wor Almiron, I want to count on you” plus a banner with his shirt, name and number draped across the Gallowgate End.
The first glimpse the Geordie faithful had of Almiron on the ball came after five minutes as he galloped down the left wing before putting in a cross for Ayoze Perez - but Town goalkeeper Jonas Lossl gathered the ball.
Three minutes later, Salomon Rondon swivelled before firing at goal before Perez latched on to the ball, forcing Lossl to come out and block.
The crowd were on their feet again on 12 minutes as Almiron raced through after a pass from Isaac Hayden before attempting an elaborate dink but the ball bounced back off the post. Incredibly, it rolled back into the path of Rondon but he again struck the base of the upright.
Fabian Schar was then released by Perez but after a good run, he fired straight at Lossl.
Rondon wriggled through on 19 minutes but his stinging effort brought out a save from Lossl again.
Midway through the first half, Huddersfield turned to foul means to try to stop Almiron as skipper Tommy Smith steamed into a challenge near the centre circle.
Smith’s wild challenge was worthy of a red and forced Huddersfield into a tactical reshuffle as Jason Puncheon came off for Florent Hadergjonaj.
On 26 minutes, Almiron was in the faces of Town again as he jinked through and hammered a shot at Lossl who pushed the ball away to safety.
There was a bizarre decision from referee Kevin Friend a minute later as he booked Deandre Yedlin despite a late challenge on the American from Juninho Bacuna.
Almiron showed his skill on the left-hand side before firing at goal again and, despite gathering first time, the ball then slipped through Lossl’s hands – only for the goalkeeper to recover well.
Lossl had to push over Perez’s effort after Yedlin’s pass on 43 minutes as United piled on the pressure.