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Burnley 1 Newcastle 2 – The three big points that I’m taking from the match

2 years ago
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Burnley 1 Newcastle 2 – Sunday 22 May 4pm

Final game of the season and we had a lot of influence when it came to final positions in the table.

Obviously a massive hand in the relegation scrap, if Newcastle beat Burnley, Leeds would just need a draw to hang onto Premier League status by the skin of their teeth. Burnley surviving for sure if winning this final game.

NUFC (if winning) could also finish in the top half of the table, if Brentford failed to win against Leeds and Brighton lost at home to West Ham.

To be where we were on this final day, after a disastrous start to the season, was monumental.

The team looked to be almost the strongest we could field with the current squad, only missing Schar (Lascelles in), and Fraser (Almiron in).

With the way Longstaff played last game, I would almost go as far as to say he’s currently on par with Willock and Shelvey – obviously not our magnificent Brazilian duo though.

Burnley looked to have set up the same as against Aston Villa, shut up shop and hope to nick something, which to be fair worked to an extent last time.

Pretty scrappy start to the game, with Joelinton injured within the first 10 minutes, replaced by Jacob Murphy, with him taking a place on the right and Almiron dropping back, bit of a blow to start the game with.

First real chance came in the 16th minute, Wilson nicking the ball in the Burnley box, leading to a Bruno shot well saved. From the following corner, Collins clearly punched the ball away. Wilson coolly slotted the penalty home to give us the advantage. Not really much else to report on in the first half in all honesty- very scrappy, with lots of fouls breaking up the rhythm of play.

Second half, Burnley obviously looking to continue their plan of punting it forward, as Weghorst came on for Roberts. Nothing really changed in the first 15 minutes after the break, with Burnley’s attacks lacking teeth, and Newcastle happy to work the ball around the midfield and occasionally use ASM’s pace to launch fast counters – which came to fruition on the hour mark.

ASM skinning the Burnley defence to square to an unmarked Wilson to tap in for his second of the game!

Game returned to much the same rhythm for another 10 minutes, until a good ball in from Burnley led to a shot from Cornet, well saved by Dubravka only to rebound right back to the Ivorian – who finished on the second time of asking.

Newcastle responded by taking ASM off for Wood (to the predictable chorus of boos).

Burnley really began to knock on the door as the game continued on, wasting chance after chance as they poured forward in desperation. Newcastle defended strong as Burnley, in fairness, had to put the pressure on to stay in the league. All to no avail, as the defence kept out Burnley’s frantic efforts, and a 2-1 win for Leeds meant that they survived with a three point cushion in the end.

Here are my three key points that I am taking from the game.

Winners win ugly

They say the best teams win ugly and boy was that match ugly.

Obviously it was to be expected, away at Turf Moor with an increasingly desperate attack being launched at you, but the back four and keeper stayed calm, kept shots on target to a minimum and claimed the three points.

The little moments counted

To defend well you need a leader at the back and Burn was that today, as he intercepted, blocked and tackled basically everything today. Clearly our best player in a game that lacked any quality.

Also a massive shout out to Wilson for his clinical finishes, hardly got a sniff in the second half but he put his one chance away and it got us the three points.

Squad depth needed

Obviously it’s been said about squad depth before before but with Willock and Shevley both out of the squad and Joelinton forced off injured, we were playing with a makeshift midfielder in Almiron for the majority of the match, then finished off with Ritchie in the centre of the park.

Hopefully we can look forward to the summer for strengthening across the squad….another striker, centre mid, winger, centre back and full-back please, as well as getting rid of some deadwood.

Stats from BBC Sport:

Burnley 1 Newcastle 2 – Sunday 22 May 4pm

Goals:

Burnley:

Cornet 69

Newcastle:

Wilson 20 (Pen), 60

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Burnley 51% (40%) Newcastle 49% (60%)

Total shots were Burnley 12 (2) Newcastle 8 (3)

Shots on target were Burnley 5 (1) Newcastle 6 (3)

Corners were Burnley 8 (1) Newcastle 2 (1)

Referee: Craig Pawson

Newcastle United:

Dubravka, Trippier, Lascelles, Burn, Targett, Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton (Murphy 11), Saint-Maximin (Wood 72), Almiron (Ritchie 89), Wilson

Unused Subs:

Darlow, Schar, Dummett, Fernandez, Krafth, Gayle

(Burnley 1 Newcastle 2 – Instant NUFC fan / writer reaction to Sunday’s victory – Read HERE)

(Burnley 1 Newcastle 2 – Eddie Howe ends season on an NUFC high and sends his old club down – Read HERE)

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