

Dwight Gayle scored the winner on his first appearance of the season as Newcastle returned from a coronavirus-enforced absence to heap more misery on struggling West Bromwich Albion.
Gayle, who was injured during pre-season, came off the bench to find the net with a superb header eight minutes from time at St James’ Park on Saturday.
The Magpies, playing for the first time in more than two weeks, were given the lead after just 20 seconds by Miguel Almiron.
West Brom’s improvement after half-time was rewarded by Darnell Furlong’s excellent equaliser.
But Gayle’s strike against the club where he once spent time on loan lifted Newcastle to 11th in the Premier League table, at least for the time being, while West Brom remain 19th.
Gayle and Newcastle’s successful return
Newcastle’s training ground was closed for a week after a Covid-19 outbreak which caused their game against Aston Villa to be postponed.
The Magpies only returned to training on Tuesday, with manager Steve Bruce saying that, as of Monday, he had huge doubts over how many players he would have available for this fixture.
As it turned out, Bruce was only missing two players that started in the win at Crystal Palace last time out, though the absence of both Federico Fernandez and Javier Manquillo left a defensive shortage that usual midfielder Isaac Hayden filled with aplomb.
After their enforced lay-off, the hosts flew out of the blocks through Almiron’s rapid strike and continued to have the better of the first half, posing a constant threat on the break.
However, West Brom grew into the game at the end of the opening 45 minutes, improved further after a half-time rejig and were rewarded with Furlong’s equaliser.
Pushed back, Newcastle introduced Gayle to make his return from a knee injury suffered in a pre-season friendly against Crewe.
He immediately saw a header cleared off the line by Matt Phillips, but another header, from a wonderful cross supplied by fellow substitute Jacob Murphy, left Sam Johnstone with no chance.
West Brom empty handed again
West Brom arrived in the north-east of England with only one away point all season, a single win in the Premier League and on the back of a capitulation on being reduced to 10 men in the 5-1 defeat by Crystal Palace last weekend.
If manager Slaven Bilic was under pressure and in need of a reaction from his players, the early signs were not promising.
From a West Brom kick-off, a long ball saw Branislav Ivanovic outmuscled by Callum Wilson, with Joelinton collecting the ball to square for the free Almiron, who finished from an angle.
The Baggies were disjointed and toothless, missing the guile of Matheus Pereira, who was beginning his suspension for last week’s red card.
After two goals in the past two weeks, Conor Gallagher kickstarted West Brom before Bilic’s half-time intervention breathed life into his team. The experienced Charlie Austin was introduced to provide a threat up front, while Phillips was released to play further forward.
It was Phillips’ deep cross that provided the goal, Furlong energetically nipping in ahead of the dithering Jamaal Lewis to poke a smart finish inside the post. For Furlong, it was a first Premier League goal some 24 years after father Paul last scored in the top flight.
West Brom were dominant, Newcastle pushed back – yet the visitors could not create another telling opening.
And just as Bilic changed the game with his substitutions, so too did Bruce with the decisive introduction of Gayle.
Leaky Baggies – the stats
- Newcastle have won three of their past five Premier League home games, one more than they had in their previous 11 at St James’ Park.
- West Brom have become the first team to concede 25 goals in the Premier League this season, while the Baggies have picked up just one point from their six away games so far.
- Some 57% of Newcastle’s league goals this term have come in the final 15 minutes of games (eight out of 14) – the highest ratio in the competition.
- Almiron’s opener after 20 seconds was Newcastle’s second fastest Premier League goal after Alan Shearer netted 10 seconds into a game against Manchester City in January 2003.
- Since joining West Brom before the 2016-17 season, Phillips has been involved in more league goals for the Baggies than any other player (42 – 18 goals, 24 assists).
- Newcastle’s Joelinton has been involved in three goals in his past two league matches (one goal, two assists) – just one fewer than he had in his previous 46 combined in the competition (two goals, two assists).
- Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy has now provided one assist in each of his three Premier League campaigns, setting up Gayle’s winner just 118 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
What’s next?
Things do not get any easier for West Brom, with their next engagement a trip to Manchester City on Tuesday (20:00 GMT). Newcastle travel to Leeds the following evening (18:00).
Player of the match
GayleDwight Gayle
Newcastle United
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Squad number12Player nameGayle
Average rating7.89
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Squad number24Player nameAlmirón
Average rating7.35
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Squad number23Player nameMurphy
Average rating7.17
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Squad number13Player nameC Wilson
Average rating7.16
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Squad number14Player nameHayden
Average rating6.88
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Squad number2Player nameClark
Average rating6.78
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Squad number26Player nameDarlow
Average rating6.74
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Squad number11Player nameRitchie
Average rating6.60
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Squad number9Player nameJoelinton
Average rating6.44
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Squad number8Player nameShelvey
Average rating6.43
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Squad number36Player nameS Longstaff
Average rating6.23
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Squad number17Player nameKrafth
Average rating6.17
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Squad number22Player nameYedlin
Average rating5.92
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Squad number15Player nameLewis
Average rating5.73
West Bromwich Albion
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Squad number2Player nameFurlong
Average rating5.62
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Squad number18Player nameGallagher
Average rating5.53
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Squad number1Player nameJohnstone
Average rating5.51
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Squad number3Player nameGibbs
Average rating5.20
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Squad number10Player namePhillips
Average rating5.07
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Squad number15Player nameAustin
Average rating5.07
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Squad number27Player nameO’Shea
Average rating4.89
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Squad number19Player nameSawyers
Average rating4.82
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Squad number17Player nameKrovinovic
Average rating4.77
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Squad number7Player nameRobinson
Average rating4.65
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Squad number13Player nameGrosicki
Average rating4.65
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Squad number6Player nameAjayi
Average rating4.62
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Squad number20Player nameIvanovic
Average rating4.57
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Squad number29Player nameGrant
Average rating4.23
Line-ups
Newcastle
- 26Darlow
- 17KrafthSubstituted forMurphyat 80′minutes
- 14Hayden
- 2Clark
- 15LewisBooked at 35minsSubstituted forGayleat 69′minutes
- 24AlmirónSubstituted forYedlinat 86′minutes
- 36S Longstaff
- 8Shelvey
- 11Ritchie
- 13C WilsonBooked at 90mins
- 9Joelinton
Substitutes
- 4M Longstaff
- 7Carroll
- 12Gayle
- 16Hendrick
- 22Yedlin
- 23Murphy
- 41Langley
West Brom
- 1Johnstone
- 6AjayiBooked at 69mins
- 20IvanovicBooked at 88mins
- 27O’Shea
- 2FurlongBooked at 35mins
- 18GallagherSubstituted forGrosickiat 80′minutes
- 19Sawyers
- 10Phillips
- 17Krovinovic
- 7RobinsonSubstituted forGibbsat 45′minutes
- 29GrantSubstituted forAustinat 45′minutes
Substitutes
- 3Gibbs
- 8Livermore
- 11Diangana
- 13Grosicki
- 15Austin
- 24Kipré
- 25Button
- Referee:
- Darren England
Match Stats
Live Text
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Match ends, Newcastle United 2, West Bromwich Albion 1.
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Second Half ends, Newcastle United 2, West Bromwich Albion 1.
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Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) is shown the yellow card.
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Romaine Sawyers (West Bromwich Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Callum Wilson (Newcastle United).
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Foul by Kieran Gibbs (West Bromwich Albion).
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Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Foul by Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion).
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Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Corner, West Bromwich Albion. Conceded by Ciaran Clark.
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Branislav Ivanovic (West Bromwich Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Foul by Branislav Ivanovic (West Bromwich Albion).
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Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Matt Phillips (West Bromwich Albion).
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Dwight Gayle (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Substitution, Newcastle United. DeAndre Yedlin replaces Miguel Almirón.
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Offside, West Bromwich Albion. Darnell Furlong tries a through ball, but Charlie Austin is caught offside.
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Goal! Newcastle United 2, West Bromwich Albion 1. Dwight Gayle (Newcastle United) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Jacob Murphy with a cross.
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Attempt blocked. Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Dwight Gayle.
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Substitution, West Bromwich Albion. Kamil Grosicki replaces Conor Gallagher.
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