It’s the and
Lee Ryder
NEWCASTLE United are now in their best Premier League form in more than a decade.
And a quick glance at the table suggests that Eddie Howe’s Magpies will be safe sooner rather than later after a fourth win in five matches and seven unbeaten.
True, Newcastle still have some way to go before they can match Alan Pardew’s side – who were unbeaten in 2011 for 14 matches – but the aim of the game for United has been to claw their way to safety under new ownership and they are doing exactly that and more.
Howe would now be extremely unfortunate not to win manager of the month for February but he will be more interested in survival than personal honours.
With the Magpies now in 14th place in the table, they could be just four more wins away from sealing their topflight place for next season.
The game started in a relatively tame fashion compared to last week’s encounter at West Ham but Newcastle’s first real attack saw Ryan Fraser’s floated cross but David Raya coped with the danger.
For Fraser, it was merely a taste of things to come as he caused havoc in the opening 45 minutes.
Then on 11 minutes, the game swung firmly into United’s favour when Josh Dasilva flew in hard on Matt Targett to leave the full-back floored near the edge of the box.
Mike Dean consulted VAR before showing Dasilva – who scored the winner in the League Cup quarter-final here last season – the red card.
It also handed the Magpies a free-kick near the edge of the box but Shelvey could only direct it straight at Raya.
Fraser’s cross on 18 minutes found Chris Wood but the New Zealand striker’s header was deflected wide for a corner.
The lively Scotsman then hung up a cross for Wood again on 26 minutes but the former Burnley forward was denied by Raya who beat the ball away from close range.
Targett was the next to try his luck to beat with a low shot which Raya beat away low down.
However, the goal the 1,700 Newcastle supporters were waiting for duly arrived on 35 minutes.
And it was no surprise that the supplier was Fraser as he got free down the left and one of his balls into the box paid off as Joelinton headed down and beyond the former Blackburn stopper to make it 1-0.
As Brentford’s 10 men tried to frantically to get back into the game, they were hit by a sucker punch on the counter.
Fabian Schar elegantly glided forward with the ball before perfectly timing a pass for Willock who kept his composure to apply a fine finish and grab his second goal in as many games.
The Magpies picked up where they left off in the first half after the break forcing an immediate corner kick.
Targett’s set-piece found Schar in the box but he could
only head over the bar.
Brentford made the change that everybody wanted to see on 53 minutes when Christian Eriksen entered the field eight months after suffering a heart attack at the European Championships last year.
The former Tottenham and Inter Milan star was applauded on to the field by both sets of fans.
As the game approached the hour mark Newcastle were simply moving the ball around and looked content to hold on to the lead they had.
But if a reminder was needed that United’s lead could quickly be whittled down it arrived when Christian Norgaard steered a shot just wide.
Brentford handed Ivan Toney an opportunity against his old club but the striker was quickly followed by Bruno Guimaraes on 64 minutes as he replaced the hard working Murphy.
Ref Dean issued Martin Dubravka with a yellow card mid-way through the second half.
With 20 minutes remaining Targett’s low shot was blocked by Raya before Bruno was unable to convert despite getting two attempts in front of goal.
Willock took a blow to the face in the closing stages and was replaced by club captain Jamaal Lascelles.
Bruno tried to add some gloss to the scoreline with a
long range effort but the Brazil international’s effort curled wide.
Fraser then won a free-kick with four minutes to go with Shelvey hammering it at goal but Raya somehow pushed it away from danger.
The Scot went off with the clock on 90 minutes for Miguel Almiron and was afforded rich applause from the away end.
Almiron even had a glimpse of goal after latching on to Joelinton’s cross from the right but he hit it straight at Raya.
Dubravka made a great save in stoppage time to prevent Vitaly Janelt with a good effort fro the left.
However, it mattered not as Newcastle coasted to victory in the end and managed 26 attempts at goal.