I can’t and won’t say Newcastle United deserved yesterday’s 1-0 home win against Watford but what I will say is that the club bagged three Premier League points – hurrah!
On the other hand, Sky Sports football pundit Charlie Nicholas didn’t sound too exuberant with his post-match analysis.
“If Watford had gone in at half-time in front, then Newcastle would’ve been in trouble. But gradually they ground it out, with all the substitutions.
“It was dogged determination that got them through this. The player who stood out was Diame. He’s not always been at it, but I thought today he was very, very impressive.
“When this team is nervous, they have to sit in and get their discipline sorted out. But the substitutions worked for them.
“They showed determination, but it could’ve been so different. Deulofeu is so frustrating. One day he’s brilliant, and at other times, he’s laughable.
“Now Newcastle are out the bottom three. It was a massive win for them.”
🎥 Matchwinner @AyozePG spoke to NUFC TV after his first goal of the season gave United their maiden @premierleague victory of the campaign this afternoon.
Watch the full interview: https://t.co/jmEl5VLlXR #NUFC pic.twitter.com/42mvpBKGow
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 3, 2018
Man of the Match
🎥 Here's what Rafa Benítez had to say after today's win.
Watch the full interview: https://t.co/02NMEYIfvI #NUFC pic.twitter.com/vRFmNJak8r
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 3, 2018
Rate the players
Ever the pessimist
Bournemouth lost at home against Manchester United on Saturday and so Eddie Howe and his limited number of first-team players will be determined to spank the Magpies on their home turf next weekend.
Will normal service resume?
St James' Park
Premier League
3/11/2018 4:00 pm
Attendance: 49157
Referee: Craig Pawson
| Newcastle United | Watford | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayoze Pérez (65) | |||||||
| Martin Dubravka | Ben Foster | ||||||
| DeAndre Yedlin | Kiko Femenía | ||||||
| Jamaal Lascelles | (45) | Adrian Mariappa | |||||
| Federico Fernandez | Craig Cathcart | ||||||
| Paul Dummett | José Holebas | ||||||
| Matt Ritchie | Abdoulaye Doucouré | ||||||
| Jonjo Shelvey | (51) | Etienne Capoue | |||||
| Mohamed Diamé | Will Hughes | (77) | |||||
| Robert Kenedy | Roberto Pereyra | ||||||
| Yoshinori Muto | (45+2) | Gerard Deulofeu | (69) | ||||
| Salomón Rondón | Isaac Success Ajayi | (85) | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Sung-Yueng Ki | (51) | Heurelho Gomes | |||||
| Fabian Schär | (45) | Adam Masina | |||||
| Ayoze Pérez | (45+2) | Ken Sema | |||||
| Javi Manquillo | Nathaniel Chalobah | (85) | |||||
| Joselu | Andre Gray | (66) | |||||
| Karl Darlow | Christian Kabasele | ||||||
| Christian Atsu | Stefano Okaka | (77) | |||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 10 | Goal attempts | 16 |
| 2 | On Target | 1 |
| 8 | Corners | 9 |
| 12 | Fouls | 11 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 5 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 42 | % | 58 |