Newcastle United secured a spot in the top ten today with a 2:1 win against Burnley at Saint James’ Park, an important win after a frustrating draw with Spurs earlier this Tuesday. The Toon army also had the pleasure of finally welcoming Yoane Wissa, as well as seeing Martin Dúbravka, once a substitute goalkeeper who stepped up when the club needed him most, once more.
After a series of corner kicks from Burnley at the very start of the match, Bruno Guimarães opened the scoring with a magnificent Olympic goal, becoming the first ever Newcastle United player to score one in the Premiere League. Burnley’s troubles in the first half didn’t end there, as their left-back, Lucas Pires, was sent off after tackling Elanga, leaving the Clarets with 10 men, not long after conceding a mind-boggling golazo. Although not entirely a comforting thought, Pires wasn’t the only tragic actor for Burnley in the first half, since Lesley Ugochukwu’s handball gave way for Anthony Gordon’s penalty kick, which saw Newcastle upping their advantage to 2:0 before half-time.
Whatever Parker told his players in the dressing room, coupled with Newcastle’s premature notion of victory, saw the second half much more nerve-wracking for the Mags. Jacob Ramsey repeated Ugochukwu’s mistake in stoppage time, which Zian Flemming coolly punished with a ferociously precise penalty kick. The Clarets continued attacking until the very end, with Josh Laurent almost scoring an equaliser at the very end of the match.
Despite the hard-earned win, Howe wasn’t all that pleased: “It was a sluggish start. Bruno got us a goal from a corner, we went 2-0 up, and I was hoping for a really vibrant second half, but that didn’t happen. We didn’t do well in the right areas. We didn’t do enough in the second half to break them down”.
Despite the fact that Newcastle United didn’t quite show their best, the Toon army certainly did. Most former players get booed (or worse) when they return to their former ground sporting a new club’s crest. Just look at what happened when Donnarumma played at San Siro last time. How the Newcastle supporters treated Dúbrovka today couldn’t be more different from what the Italian goalkeeper once had to endure. Fans from the Strawberry Corner started chanting his name around the 83rd minute, just like they used to when he was still playing on Tyneside. The Slovakian goalkeeper applauded the supporters in return, turning towards Gallowgate as his new teammates launched an attack.