Newcastle end losing streak as Ayoze Pérez goal earns draw with West Brom
Newcastle 1 - 1 West Brom
Ayoze Perez 41
Victor Anichebe 32 Newcastle's Ayoze Pérez, right, scores against West Bromin the Premier League at St James' Park
There have been so many compromises at Newcastle United in recent months that settling for a draw at home against limited, slightly unambitious opponents almost seemed something to celebrate.
At least it marked the end of a ghastly eight-game losing streak that had threatened to sweep John Carver’s makeshift team into the Championship. That danger has not quite passed but there were sufficient signs of improvement to suggest that the St James’ Park board might just escape punishment for this season’s concerted cost and corner cutting.
An amalgam of Hull’s debilitating defeat to Burnley and apparently “kind” closing fixtures at QPR next week and here against West Ham in a fortnight’s time have provoked cautious optimism on Gallowgate.
“Newcastle had more of the possession and more of the play,” said Tony Pulis, whose West Brom players frequently threatened at set pieces but looked happy to settle for the point which offers a mathematical guarantee of Premier League football next season.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” said Pulis who has overseen the collection of 24 points in 17 games since being parachuted in to rescue the club from relegation. “In lots of respects it’s the toughest job I’ve had. I’ve had more stressful days and nights than anywhere else.”
It is still safe to assume Carver would happily have swapped places with him this spring – and never more readily than in the past week during which he has variously been threatened with replacement by Steve McClaren, quelled a dressing-room mutiny and been widely ridiculed in the national media.
If only Carver had a point for every time he has issued reminders that defending dead balls represents Newcastle’s “achilles heels”. When West Brom became merely the latest in a litany of sides to highlight this vulnerability it probably hurt Alan Pardew’s successor more than usual as, until then, his team had impressed.
A combination of effort, energy and enterprise, Newcastle began brightly enough for Pulis to experience several apoplectic technical area moments. Then Jonás Gutiérrez hacked down Craig Dawson and Craig Gardner stepped forward to take the resultant dead ball. The former Sunderland midfielder is a free-kick specialist and his latest delivery did not disappoint. With its trajectory thoroughly confounding a makeshift home defence, Victor Anichebe was able to guide a superb header beyond Tim Krul.
How Carver must have rued the events of a few minutes earlier. None too shabby at set piece dispatch himself, Ryan Taylor had whipped in a free-kick which Fabricio Coloccini headed on. It fell for Moussa Sissoko and, having ridden one challenge, he unleashed a shot only to see it cleared off the line by Joleon Lescott.
If Sissoko’s powerful, pace suffused surges from deep were worrying a formidably imposing visiting backline, comprised of four tall central defenders, it was another Taylor free-kick which finally bisected that rearguard.
Whether slightly miscued or a supreme piece of skill it looped up kindly for Ayoze Pérez to beat Boaz Myhill with a left-footed half volley angled low into the bottom.
Another half volley, from Gardner this time, briefly threatened to restore West Brom’s lead early in the second half before swerving off target. Not for the first time though Carver’s defence had been caught cold by Darren Fletcher’s cross.
Newcastle subsequently lived dangerous when Chris Brunt first saw a header blocked by Paul Dummett before volleying the rebound against the bar and, again, as Tim Krul saved smartly from Saido Berahino.
Yet with Taylor making a decent job of anchoring things at the base of Carver’s slightly unorthodox midfield diamond, they remained the slightly superior side. If the sight of Papiss Cissé stepping off the bench to make a dual return from a seven match suspension and knee surgery lifted the Tyneside mood, so, too, did Pulis’s decision to replace the excellent Anichebe with Callum McManaman.
Anichebe had been West Brom’s best player and Coloccini particularly looked delighted to see him leave. Greater relief was writ large on James Morrison’s face after his studs-up tackle on Taylor as Chris Foy produced a yellow rather than a red card.
It only reinforced the sense Newcastle merited victory and they would have secured it had Myhill not reacted well to save Sissoko’s late low drive.
Survival often hinges on similarly fine margins but the point Newcastle did gain probably represents a significant step towards safety.
Guardian