Either a celebration of all things Newcastle, or a crashing reality check… | OneFootball

Wow, that felt like a really long time since our last match (which you may all remember).

The Carabao Cup win had been rightly and thoroughly celebrated (with tonight the last lingering vestige as a giant tifo of the trophy appeared in the Leazes end) but we all knew it was back to business now.

While we were occupied with cup business things, had started looking up on the quiet.

The almost overlooked win at West Ham, coupled with a steady flow of favourable results, had meant the Champions League places, hereby referred to as the top five, were well within reach.

With six home games (five against bottom half opponents), a game in hand and some pleasant quirks of fixture (we play Man Utd and Chelsea after European ties, Palace with their semi final imminent and Villa smack between both of these scenarios) there was real potential to make this season to remember a hands down triumph, with a return to Europe’s top table.

With fellow contenders all distracted by various ongoing cup campaigns, it was essential that United assumed a laser focus on each match, beginning with this potential tripping point against the resurgent Bees.

General consensus was this would go one of two ways, either a celebration of all things Newcastle, or a crashing reality check. Brentford were on a stunning run of five straight away wins and will still harbour European ambitions of their own, so this was never going to be a walkover.

The heady atmosphere transferred itself to a lively opening, with a Wembley flashback as Livramento once again demonstrated his capabilities as an overlapping left-back, sending over a tantalising left foot cross, that Isak headed wide when he maybe should have done better. Massive credit to Tino, since deputising for the injured Hall he couldn’t have had a more difficult procession of right wingers than Bowen, Salah and Mbeumo, but all have been kept admirably quiet.

Some slight alarm started to creep in when it became apparent that Brentford had the sort of game plan we’ve fallen foul of on several occasions at home this year. The visitors’ compact low block in defence quickly transferred to a threatening counter-attack in the exact style we don’t like.

I have to say I don’t believe this was helped by some wayward passing that I blame in part on the kit situation. When Brentford came here for the League Cup tie before Christmas, I thought that their salmon pink effort was too similar to our own kit with its predominantly white back when glancing across the pitch, and I’m sure a couple of questionable balls were affected by this.

One person that wasn’t letting confusion into his game was Sandro Tonali, who consistently seemed to be the person breaking up attacks, intercepting balls and generally just keeping things on track, when they seemed to wobble. More on him in a bit.

With the first half petering out into stalemate, suddenly United found their stride. Schar hit one of his Hollywood balls forward from inside his own penalty area, which Pinnock misjudged and Isak was in, torturing the back-pedalling defence with one of his mazy runs. He maybe overdid it in beating Collins twice and sitting him down, meaning Barnes had clearly strayed offside by the time he delivered a dinked ball that was headed in, flagged off and confirmed after a VAR check. Despite this and the fact Brentford we’re taking ages over everything, only a minute was added on to the first half. Fortunately, that was enough.

United played out quickly from the back, with Burn’s ball finding its way to Bruno, who switched to Murphy on the right. Match of the Day footage later showed Alan Shearer in the crowd and he would have been salivating at the perfect Solano-esque cross Murph fired over for his pal in the middle. The Magician’s assistant once again setting up Isak to knock in his twentieth Premier League goal of the season. Another pleasant reminder, taking the lead as we creep into first half injury time.

Murphy’s next contribution didn’t quite have the polished finish, as he dispossessed Collins and had a clear run at goal, with Isak lurking ominously. Murphy allowed time for his shot to be blocked, but gathered the ball to return for Barnes, who fluffed his shot a bit into the ground.

The failure to extend the lead was duly punished, as Mbeumo’s speculative ball into the box saw Wissa make a run across the front of the advancing Pope, dinking the ball away just as the keeper looked to gather it. This led to a clumsy upending and Mbeumo made no mistake from the spot. I wonder what shirt he’ll have on next time we see him here?

There was a slight threat of a Fulham-style unravelling here as United didn’t cope well with being hauled level. A long throw created havoc that led to Pinnock heading against the post with Pope beaten, the rebound falling neatly into his gloves. There was then a moment of alarm as Bruno gave the slightest shove in the box on Damsgaard, who had emerged from his sick bed to add impetus to Brentford’s second half. The ref wasn’t giving them another one thankfully.

I was just contemplating how a draw would look when an unexpectedly brilliant, champagne moment arrived, just as we needed it. Barnes played in the overlapping Tonali way out wide, with chalk practically on his boots. There were two Brentford players in attendance and a further seven in the box, when out of nowhere Tonali unleashed a howitzer that arrowed past Flekken at the front post and into the opposite top corner, the net bulging for a magnificent aesthetic. The crowd were barely murmuring before the Italian got everyone out of their seat. I am lucky enough to have seen Peter Beardsley do similar against Norwich here, and John Beresford float an obvious cross into the net against Man City, and this was more like the former. He meant it, give him goal of the month. Tonali’s third goal against Brentford this season and they’ve all been things of beauty.

The final Wembley throwback was a slightly unwelcome one, as eight minutes of added time seemed excessive. There were two scares initiated by Damsgaard, first when he blazed over when well placed from a cross, and secondly when Bruno once again bundled him over in the box, this time way more physical than the previous but with the same outcome. How many penalties do you want lads?

It wasn’t the prettiest or most convincing of wins but this could prove pivotal in the grand scheme of things. We do indeed occupy fifth place, although retaining this relies on Tottenham getting something against Chelsea tonight. We still have that game in hand to come though, and it’s essential that some solid, professional performances are delivered over the next couple of weeks. Leicester are a mess and anything but a win there would be poor, whilst Man Utd are beatable enough even without the distraction of being between legs of a big European tie.

Our rivals have some difficult fixtures in that time so United need to fill their boots and make some gains while possible. Often, cobbling together a narrow win like this, is exactly what is needed to keep momentum going. The cup is now in the cabinet and there’s a serious business ahead. This was a decent start to that.

Champions League and a trophy, that doesn’t sound like a bad time at all.

Newcastle 2 Brentford 1 – Wednesday 2 April 7.45pm

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Isak 45+2, Tonali 74

Mbeuno 66 pen

Possession was Newcastle 48% Brentford 52%

Total shots were Newcastle 21 Brentford 12

Shots on target were Newcastle 4 Brentford 3

Corners were Newcastle 4 Brentford 5

Touches in the box Newcastle 35 Brentford 37

Newcastle team v Brentford:

Pope, Trippier (Krafth 89), Schar, Burn, Livramento, Joelinton, Tonali, Bruno, Barnes (Miley 98), Isak (Wilson 66), Murphy (Willock 66)

Unused subs:

Dubravka, Shahar, Longstaff, Osula, Neave

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(Newcastle 2 Brentford 1 – Match ratings and comments on all the Newcastle United players – Read HERE)