That makes it five in a row for the red-hot Magpies as they take down Brentford on the road. Brentford’s home-field advantage has been merely impossible for many teams to overcome, but Newcastle United was able to get the job done.
With confidence and momentum building all week long with wins over Manchester United and West Ham, Newcastle wreaked havoc in Gtetch Community Stadium.
To open the contest, both sides looked sluggish as they played three games in just six days.
Early on, Brentford had multiple opportunities to find the opening goal, with Newcastle’s overbearing defense being the outlier. Within the first 10 minutes, Brentford found themselves with a deflected shot, that forward Ivan Toney smashed into the back of the net to make the game 1-0.
Unfortunately for Toney, his opening goal against his former team would be disallowed after a VAR review, keeping the game 0-0.
The story remained the same as Brentford kept the pressure on Newcastle’s defense and later on in the first half the Bees would be rewarded with a penalty kick. Defender Sven Botman went to challenge a speedy play and took out the attacking Brentford player inside the 18.
The kick was given to Toney, in hopes of avenging his earlier goal that was called off, but that would not be the case as goalkeeper Nick Pope made the perfect read, keeping the game level.
Once again however, as the first half drew to a close the Magpies committed another foul in the box, this one getting tacked against forward Alexander Isak for a high boot. That penalty kick, would not follow the same fate as earlier as Toney nailed the ball into the top right corner, giving the Bees a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Now, I’m not quite sure what Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said to his team, but after a sluggish first half, the team looked brand new.
To start the following 45 minutes, the team instantly put pressure on Brentford and created a tempo the Bees could not match.
After nine minutes passed, the defense broke down and Joelinton was able to make an acrobatic shot find its way into the back of the net, tieing the game back up. Although Joelinton was the one to make the magic happen, the goal was named an own goal for Brentford’s David Raya.
Now with momentum shifting, and the traveling Magpie supporters cheering loudly, Newcastle kept the pedal all the way down to the floor.
Just seven minutes later in the 61st minute, Isak received a nice pass from counterpart forward Callum Wilson, and blasted the ball into the upper benjamins.
That goal for Isak would be his eighth on the season, scoring five over the course of the last five games.
Just minutes later Newcastle would find another goal, but due to a handball right before the shot, it was waved off after a VAR review.
The Magpies would then keep calm throughout the remaining attacks the Bees through at them, finishing the game with a 2-1 victory. They still have not fallen to Brentford since the 1948 season, marking a 75-year gap.
The win for Newcastle keeps them in third place in the Premier League standings, nine points behind second and above sixth, with a total of 56 points. The team’s record now sits at 15-11-3.
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After an awkward start to 2023, the team has now found its footing and looks to finish in a European League spot with eight games remaining on the season. They will next gear up to take on an impressive Aston Villa squad that has won the last five-of-six league contests.