With Newcastle United having suffered defeat against Liverpool before the international break, Eddie Howe’s side were keen to return to winning ways against Brentford in Saturday’s evening kickoff at St James’ Park.
NEW: Pope; Burn, Botman, Schär, Trippier; Anderson, Guimaraes, Longstaff; Barnes, Wilson, Gordon
BRE: Flekken; Henry, Mee, Pinnock, Collins, Hickey; Janet, Nørgaard, Jensen; Wissa, Mbuemo
It was simply imperative that Newcastle United recorded a positive result against Brentford on Saturday, with the Northern side having lost their last three matches – but an unbeaten Bees side would prove to be a tough test.
Brentford looked to draw first blood though through Aaron Hickey, with the wing-back latching onto Mathias Jensen’s through ball – but his close-range effort was turned away well by Nick Pope. The Bees would come close again through Yoane Wissa shortly after the twenty-minute mark, though he wasn’t able to turn Jensen’s cross past Pope.
A promising start to the second half saw Newcastle United find the back of the net in the 58th minute, when Mark Flekken failed to deal with Callum Wilson’s close-range effort. Craig Pawson was quick to disallow the goal though, citing a foul on the goalkeeper.
But the forward would be granted an opportunity to net his third goal of the season moments later, as the Brentford shotstopper was judged to have brought down Anthony Gordon inside the penalty area. From twelve yards out, Callum Wilson’s emphatic finish saw him go level with Les Ferdinand as the club’s fourth highest scorer in the Premier League.
It looked as though the hosts would double their lead from the penalty spot again as Craig Pawson pointed out a handball offence by Bryan Mbuemo, though a VAR review led to the referee backtracking on his original decision.
Newcastle United will return to action on Tuesday, as they travel to the San Siro to face AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League. Brentford can now turn their attention to Saturday’s clash with Everton.
