Hope is beginning to fill the air at St. James’ Park as Newcastle United defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in a fairly one sided affair, climbing just one point clear of the relegation zone after Norwich City fell to Aston Villa. The Magpies could have won by more, but the fans won’t care as Newcastle captured a crucial win in their battle against relegation.
Newcastle started the match on the front foot, putting consistent pressure on the Ben Foster’s goal. The West Brom goalkeeper did well to keep out a curling effort from Andros Townsend, only to outdo himself on the subsequent corner where he saved Aleksandar Mitrovic's shot from close range on the goal line.
Lee Mason found himself at the center of controversy after the official disallowed a long-range goal from Cheick Tioté. After the goal, Mason consulted his linesman despite the flag never going up. The ruling was that an offside Mitrovic was in Foster’s line of sight, impairing his ability to save.
Jeers quickly turned to cheers however, as Mitrovic scored after Jonjo Shelvey sent him on his way. The Serbian international made a smart run to the inside and Shelvey picked out his run perfectly. Foster was quick off the line but not quick enough as Mitrovic placed his shot past the goalkeeper to give Newcastle a 1-0 lead.
Newcastle would take their lead into half time, capping off a brilliant first half for the home side. West Brom struggled to get into the game thanks to the stifling possession of Newcastle who saw 78% of the ball in the first half. However, Newcastle manager Steve McClaren looked frustrated on the bench as he surely believed his team should have scored a few more.
No way back for West Brom
West Brom made a double switch to start the half with Saido Berahino and Alex Pritchard entering for Sandro and Craig Gardner, but their influence on the game was minimal as Newcastle continued to dominate the game.
The pace of of Georginio Wijnaldum and Moussa Sissoko caused all sorts of problems for the West Brom as Gareth McAuley and James Chester picked up early second half yellow cards trying to stop them from running by. Jonas Olsson would join his colleagues in the book later as West Brom's defense continued to struggle.
The hosts continued their massive pressure on the visitors as Newcastle almost went up 2-0 through Wijnaldum as he headed a Townsend cross just over the bar. The England international would have the better chance a few minutes later, turning in the box to see his curled effort rattle off the base of the post.
As the game was coming to a close, West Brom finally started to mount an attack, but it was too late. Daryl Janmaat dealt with the only real chance West Brom had all day, intercepting Solomón Rondón’s pass to Berahino in the box. It was a long five minutes of added time, but as the whistle blew, nerves turned into celebration as Newcastle narrowly saw off the visitors in a match that wasn’t as close as the score line suggests.