Newcastle United top in-form Burnley at St. James’ Park

Behind two first-half goals, Newcastle United defeated Burnley at St. James’ Park.

In a matchup of clubs in good form, Newcastle United were able to hand Burnley a 2-0 loss. Fabian Schar and Sean Longstaff provided the tallies.

First Half

The first half began with both teams trying to feel the other out, with balls over the top from both sides. Newcastle looking for Newcastle new-boy Miguel Almiron and Rondon while Burnley was looking for the height of Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes.

The first main moment of the first half came quite early on when a beautiful cross-field ball from Sean Longstaff found Matt Ritchie, who whipped a fantastic cross from the left but just too far ahead of an onrushing Rondon. This was a warning to Burnley of what was to come and an indication of the new attacking intent that Newcastle have found in recent weeks.

At the 15 minute mark, Newcastle were really pushing forward, showing the same attacking gameplan as against Huddersfield. In a statistically unusual showing for Newcastle this season, Newcastle were seeing 69% possession, which stayed very similar for the rest of the half. The transformation of Newcastle’s ambition going forward, willingness to go forward and to control possession is even more evident by the fact they were playing three times more passes than Burnley.

Despite these stats, Burnley were proving very difficult to break down. Sean Dyche’s Burnley are notorious, especially with their upturn in form in 2019, for their defensive shape and solidity. It was going to take something special to really challenge the Burnley defence, or even the highly rated Tom Heaton in goal. Step up Fabian Schar and take a bow. A moment of magic from the Swiss defender thrust Newcastle into the lead. The ball bounced out to Javier Manquillo on the right wing and he played it to Schar. The centre back, from outside of the box, drilled a shot that headed straight for the top right corner, past Heaton, and in off the inside of the post. It was a fantastically clean and powerful strike from the defender. The roof had well and truly been ripped off St. James’ Park as Newcastle were in the lead.

As in previous matches, Newcastle have been known this season to be unable to capitalise on that early first goal, so it would have been understandable for fans to be nervous heading into the latter part of the first half.

It was the Academy graduate Sean Longstaff, who has excelled since being thrust into the first team, who doubled Newcastle’s lead. Fantastic play as Newcastle worked the ball forward on the left, with Almiron playing a brilliant ball to Ritchie from centre to cross. The ball goes over the Burnley defenders, who failed to deal with it, falls to none other than the man of the moment. Longstaff controlled the ball well before firing beyond a slew of players in front of him to score his first Premier League goal.

The first half was not without it’s controversies, however, on the Burnley side. A penalty shout came about as the ball was crossed to Gudmundsen in the Newcastle area. Ritchie dove in on the player as he shoots. It was debatable whether Ritchie made contact with the Burnley player, and the referee waved away protests. Burnley arguably also should have pulled a goal back as right at the end of the half Newcastle gave away a free kick on the right. The ball was played in and headed twice before falling to Ashley Barnes 3 yards from goal, who fluffed his lines in an attempt to volley and hit it sky high. It showed Burnley’s danger from set-pieces and was a massive let-off for Newcastle.

2nd Half

The beginning of the first half followed the same form that the first half saw. Newcastle continued with the same attacking intent that they found joy through during the first half. Miguel Almiron’s pace was causing Burnley quite a lot of problems. There was a ball over the top to Almiron running in behind with only the goalkeeper to beat, but his deft flick was not as controlled as it was against Huddersfield and it dipped easily wide.

A flashpoint occurred for Newcastle as Burnley could have very well found themselves down to 10 men. A bouncing ball led Longstaff and Burnley’s Jeff Hendrick to challenge for it. With the Newcastle man getting to the ball first, Hendrick continued his momentum forward leading high, with his studs showing and catching Longstaff on the shin. The Republic of Ireland international was shown a yellow card for his challenge, although on another day he may well have seen red.

It was during this mid-point of the second half that the game began to go through its first major lull. With both sides trying to create something and gain a foothold in the half, both defences were on display. Sean Dyche brought on returning Premier League veteran Peter Crouch in an attempt to introduce some heading prowess and height into his frontline and capitalise on crosses and set-pieces into the Newcastle area.

Burnley began to push forward through the bright-spark Charlie Taylor on the left and attempted to put long balls into the box for Crouch to feed on. However, Burnley were poor on the ball and uncharacteristic compared to their performance against Tottenham Hotspur only a few days earlier. Miguel Almiron was substituted on 80 minutes for Paul Dummett with the record signing showing fatigue on his second game in only a few days. His intelligence and running during the match were key in Newcastle going forward, despite him struggling to get into the game. You can sense that his first Newcastle goal is coming.

Despite this flat second half, it was a very encouraging performance against an in-form Burnley side. The first half showed Newcastle’s attacking intent and their ability to get forward and create chances. The second half, despite some nervy moments, was very professional and Rafa-esq in it’s tactical execution of containing and protecting a lead – something of which Newcastle have struggled with.

With Cardiff City losing, Newcastle are, for the moment, seven points clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League. You can sense that in recent weeks, the tide has turned on Tyneside. Newcastle head to the London Stadium to face West Ham at the weekend in a difficult game, but with 10 games remaining, Newcastle now being on 31 points and a sense of belief at St. James’ Park, you feel like planning for another season in the Premier League is in sight.