Newcastle 1 - 0 West BromAleksandar Mitrovic strike beats West Brom to lift Newcastle from drop zone
Home team scorers
Aleksandar Mitrovic 32
Aleksandar Mitrovic celebrates scoring Newcastle’s goal against West Brom at St James’ Park.
At the final whistle Steve McClaren shook each of his Newcastle United players – as well as West Brom’s Saido Berahino – by the hand. His team were out of the bottom three, his job was considerably more secure than at 3pm and, for once, there seemed cause for cautious optimism on Tyneside.
Complemented by Andros Townsend’s impressive home debut and Steven Taylor’s assured return to central defence, Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first-half winner proved sufficient to undo Tony Pulis’s deeply disappointing side. Indeed West Brom – who, but for Ben Foster could easily have lost by a wider margin – cannot afford too many more performances like this or they, too will be in peril of relegation.
Foster was swiftly required to show off some reassuringly sharp reflexes. First, Pulis’s goalkeeper did well to repel Andros Townsends 20-yard shot and, then, to deny Mitrovic from close range with an excellent one-handed stop.
Townsend’s accuracy with both feet was worrying West Brom and making life particularly tricky for James Chester, their right back here. Such concerns prompted the visitors – who struggled to string a couple of passes together – to sit ever deeper.
Scruffy, scrappy and with Darren Fletcher fighting a forlorn battle to bring some cohesion to their play and Sandro struggling to second guess Gini Wijnaldum Pulis’s players seemed very much up against it, not to mention barely capable of escaping their own half. This was good news for Rolando Aarons, the winger filling in at left back for McClaren, and Steven Taylor, rushed back into central defence in place of the injured Chancel Mbemba following five months spent hamstrung on the sidelines.
Even so, on one of the rare first half occasions Aarons was called to arms he was a little lucky to bring Victor Anichebe down fractionally outside the area before watching West Brom waste a potentially dangerous free kick. Shortly afterwards Cheick Tioté – who would have been in Shanghai now had his mooted transfer to China not collapsed last week – thought he had scored a fabulous goal from 25 yards but, much to St James’ consternation, it was disallowed as Mitrovic was blocking Foster’s sight-line while occupying a clearly offside position.
No matter; home fans were soon celebrating after Jonjo Shelvey’s smart through ball prefaced Mitrovic sliding an accomplished low shot beyond the advancing Foster. It was a much deserved lead but they were to survive quite a fright just before half time. When Craig Gardner dodged Aarons’s attentions and directed the ball low across goal, James McClean shaped to shoot only to be denied a goal by Darul Janmaat’s last ditch intervention. Across in the technical area, a clearly rattled McClaren swore profusely.
He probably cursed some more when it became evident that Pulis was bringing on Saido Berahino – Newcastle’s principal January striker target and the subject of a failed £21m bid last week – in a double switch also involving the withdrawl of Sandro and Gardner and the introduction of Alex Pritchard.
A lovely touch from Berahino helped create a shooting chance blasted wildly over by Pritchard. “We’ve had a shot, we’ve had a shot,” sang West Brom’s travelling support, their words laced with sarcasm.
They might have had something to really applaud had a subsequent Berahino shot not been blocked but, equally, Newcastle Wijnaldum should have done better than head Townsend’s stellar cross over the bar, while the England winger later hit a post. Although Taylor looked tired he was defending intelligently against Berahino who found his style further cramped by Tioté’s close attentions. Not content with a mere handshake Tiotégave McClaren – who also managed him at FC Twente – a big hug at the end.
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Guardian