Newcastle not only made it into the top six on the first anniversary of their revolutionary Saudi Arabian-led takeover but also provided evidence that European qualifying is highly likely. Brentford was left looking relieved not to have lost by a wider margin in a fixture light year far from its equivalent last November thanks to Bruno Guimares and Miguel Almirón impressing.
Eddie Howe’s first game in charge of a team that appeared to be headed for relegation ended in a 3-3 draw, but on the night before the game, he tested positive for Covid-19 and was forced to watch the game alone in a Tyneside hotel room. This turned out to be a happier event. He remarked, “It was a fantastic anniversary.” “The ambience was amazing.”
The supporters may have occasionally been watching the title-challenging Entertainers of Kevin Keegan from the 1990s or Sir Bobby Robson’s Champions League squad from the early 2000s. We have a lot to prove, Howe added. However, being as entertaining as them is the goal and the challenge.
In the eleven months since Brentford’s previous visit, Newcastle has spent $210 million on new players, and several seasoned players are beginning to look like new players under Howe’s guidance. The best of them is Almirón, who quickly cut in from the right and raised a shot to test David Raya’s reflexes.
Although a VAR review determined that Bryan Mbeumo’s goal against former Newcastle striker Ivan Toney should have been disallowed for offside, it only served to catapult the initially sluggish hosts into the lead.
Guimares is a midfielder who is rarely overshadowed for very long, and sure enough, the Brazilian, who most definitely does not need his new bleach-blond hair to catch supporters’ eyes, cemented himself in the centre of the action by helping his team take the lead in the 22nd minute after connecting with Kieran Trippier’s brilliant cross following Almirón’s short corner.
Jacob Murphy doubled the lead after seven minutes with a little assistance from Raya. Callum Wilson brutally intercepted Brentford’s goalkeeper’s high-risk pass as he tried to play the ball out from the back.
All that was needed for Murphy to score on a side-foot finish was for a striker still trying to make a late push into England’s World Cup roster to sprint towards the goal. Wilson is prone to injuries, but is there a player more qualified to fill Harry Kane’s spot on the international team? Thomas Frank struck an increasingly frustrated figure after Murphy’s score as he tried to figure out how to end Guimares, Joe Willock, and Sean Longstaff’s control of the midfield.
