Newcastle United handled business against Huddersfield Town with a 1-0 victory on the road.
Newcastle United have won their first match in December after earning three important points against Huddersfield Town on the road. Newcastle were defending for most of the match, but it only took one strike from Salomon Rondon to put the Magpies ahead.
Based on their offensive urgency, Huddersfield will think they deserved a point, but Newcastle made the most of their chances and walked away with the victory. Here is how things played out over the course of 90 minutes this evening.
First Half
Newcastle were expected to push bodies forward in this match, but the first half saw them defend more than they would have liked. Huddersfield did well in creating multiple chances down the wings, while Newcastle struggled to maintain possession after recovering the ball in midfield.
Florent Hadergjonaj and Philip Billing ran all over the Magpies in the first 45 minutes as Ciaran Clark and Javier Manquillo struggled to keep up with their pace and failed to obstruct most crosses aimed for the penalty area.
Aside from one golden opportunity from Fabian Schar who was one-on-one with Jonas Lossl after a cheeky free-kick from Ki Sung-yueng, Newcastle failed to create any meaningful chances. Martin Dubravka did well to make a brilliant save after Billing curled in a firing shot from a free-kick, but that was Huddersfield’s only true chance of the half.
As mentioned above, Newcastle caved to the pressure of defending. This ultra-defensive style of play significantly hindered Newcastle’s offensive efficiency as the visitors only managed to create two scoring chances and completed a dismal 127 passes against a struggling Huddersfield side.
Second Half
The second half got off to a lively start with both teams taking a shot on goal in the first 47 seconds of action. Newcastle continued playing defensive football, but their counter-attacks were much more effective after the break. Huddersfield kept looking to attack down the flank through Hadergjonaj, but Newcastle did well to close in on temporarily open attackers.
Just when things were still looking stagnant for both sides, Newcastle started spreading the ball around well and a got a goal in the 55th minute. A brilliant long ball from the back-line landed perfectly for Ayoze Perez who then found Javier Manquillo running towards the corner of the box and he found Salomon Rondon who scored with composure to give Newcastle a 1-0 lead.
📸 @salorondon23 puts Newcastle ahead at the John Smith's Stadium, finishing off a brilliant team move. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/gBUAVNFVAW
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) December 15, 2018
The score should have read 2-0 for Newcastle ten minutes later as Perez received a quick pass from Christian Atsu and he chipped the keeper to score, but the flag wrongfully went up, keeping the score at 1-0.
Huddersfield did not lose faith despite trailing as they kept pushing bodies forward and forced Newcastle to defend in large numbers. Rafa Benitez made three defensive substitutions to maintain the lead as Ki Sung-yueng made way for Isaac Hayden, Matt Ritchie replaced Rondon and Paul Dummet came on for Kenedy.
Overall, this was not an impressive victory for Newcastle, but the visitors from Tyneside did just enough to secure three crucial points on the road. Newcastle will play Fulham at St. James’ Park next weekend.