Howe hails display as Toon come to the four
NEWCASTLE United rolled Aston Villa over 4-0 at St James’ Park to stay in the Champions League places on a day on which it could easily have been seven or eight for the home side.
The win keeps Newcastle in contention for Europe but also leaves other teams fearing the Magpies after eight matches unbeaten in the Premier League.
For Eddie Howe it is now just one defeat in 13 matches and the World Cup break probably comes at a bad time for Newcastle.
On a day of great moments, here are the latest Newcastle notes.
Joelinton played like a true competitor who was not afraid of the arena around him
The Brazilian once struggled in front of fans at St James’ Park – but not now.
Joelinton was pushed back into the front three and did not let anybody down.
Scoring in the second half and creating chances in the first, this was a superb display from the £40million man – but there was sterling defensive work too.
He won aerial balls all day and showed who was boss at St James’ with a shove on Emiliano Buendia and a crunch tackle on Tyrone Mings.
The only disappointment was his
yellow card which means he is out of the Southampton game.
Newcastle United got the memo on Aston Villa’s time wasting early
in the game
Emiliano Martinez made it clear he was prepared to time-waste from the offset. When he was replaced by Robin Olsen, he picked up the baton.
Villa’s time-wasting tactics, though, backfired as 10 minutes of stoppages resulted in enough added time to earn Newcastle a penalty.
Eddie Howe’s important message
Eddie Howe told fans to savour the moment after the game. The 4-0 win had them chanting about Europe.
He said afterwards: “I hope fans all enjoy themselves tonight. We are already looking forward to next week.
“That is up there with one of the best performances of the season.”.