Callum Wilson’s 64th minute penalty secured Newcastle a 1-0 win over Brentford at St James’ Park.
Wilson struck a 64th minute winner from the penalty spot to end Newcastle’s three-match losing run, after Anthony Gordon had been fouled by Mark Flekken.
The winner came after Wilson had a first-half goal disallowed due to contact during the build-up in a scrappy contest on Tyneside.
Newcastle moved up to 11th in the Premier League table on six points apiece with Brentford, who sit just above them in tenth position due to a slightly better goal difference.
After struggling to muster much quality in their defeat at Brighton before the international break, Newcastle’s luck didn’t seem to change as they were forced to weather Brentford’s early turnovers into counter-attacks.
That early pressure almost told in the fourth minute as Yoane Wissa won possession with a fair foul and sprinted up the other end, which saw the ball eventually fall to Mathias Jensen who played through for Aaron Hickey whose shot was blocked by Nick Pope.
Newcastle’s defence however proceeded to further frustrate Brentford whilst Jensen crucially blocked Elliott Anderson’s pullback cross in the 17th minute, as Eddie Howe’s Magpies began to find their attacking groove.
Brentford though were as resilient in their defence as they were in their fast-paced attacks but almost fell behind in the 27th minute, as Fabian Schar attempted a long-range shot which was deflected wide and Bruno Guimaraes eventually saw a scrappy header saved from the corner.
Neither team found a breakthrough goal before half-time in front of a quiet crowd, although Newcastle came close in the 42nd minute as Kieran Trippier rifled over the bar on the rebound, after his initial free-kick had been blocked.
Their late first-half improvement fired Newcastle up for the second half as they came back out and dominated the early stages of the second half, although they should of taken the lead in the 56th minute.
An attack was played from the left by Harvey Barnes across to Trippier, whose cross into the box caused a melee from which Wilson poked in but his goal was disallowed due to initial contact with Flekken as the ball came into the box.
Schar almost put Brentford ahead two minutes later as he got s scrappy headed touch onto Hickey’s cross into Newcastle’s box, and looked set to divert the ball into his own net until his teammates intervened with a clearance.
That lucky escape launched Newcastle into action at the other end as a clearance of Barnes’ 61st minute cross looked set to roll wide in the 61st minute, but Flekken caught Gordon and sent the 22 year-old tumbling to ground which referee – Craig Pawson deemed to be a penalty incident.
Wilson stepped up three minutes later and duly dispatched his penalty into the top-right corner to spark celebrations amongst the home supporters.
Brentford struggled to mount a response which led manager, Thomas Frank to make a triple substitution with Ben Mee, Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt off for Neal Maupay – who made his first appearance for the Bees since May 2019, plus Frank Onyeka and Kevin Schade.
Frank’s changes struggled to create much impact despite a change to a 4-3-3 formation as Newcastle’s dominance continued, which culiminated in Barnes knocking down Gordon’s 79th minute cross onto Bryan Mbeumo’s unintentional stray hand.
Pawson initially awarded a penalty kick but Video-Assistant-Referee (VAR) intervened which led Pawson to overturn his decision, following a pitchside monitor review.
That slice of luck and a final substitution as Keane Lewis-Potter replaced Hickey sparked Brentford into late life, with Lewis-Potter’s shot blocked in the 83rd minute, before he teed up Yoane Wissa a minute later but the DR Congo international’s header was saved by Pope.
Brentford continued to push for a late equaliser and went close in the third minute of injury-time as Wissa headed a free-kick down, but the ball deflected wide off Pope’s legs.
Newcastle eventually held out to claim their second win of the season, and in-turn ended the Bees’ unbeaten start to the campaign.
What’s Next?
Newcastle head to AC Milan for their opening match in the Champions League Group Stage on Tuesday 19 September (5:45pm UK Time), before they visit Sheffield United on 24 September at 4:30pm BST in their next Premier League match.
Brentford host Everton in their next match at 5:30pm on Saturday 23 September, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Teams
Newcastle: Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff, Elliott Anderson, Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes (Almiron 83′), Callum Wilson
Substitutes: Martin Dubravka, Jamal Lascelles, Sandro Tonali, Matt Targett, Alexander Isak, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Jacob Murphy, Miguel Almiron
Brentford: Mark Flekken, Aaron Hickey (Lewis-Potter 82′), Nathan Collins, Ethan Pinnock, Ben Mee (Maupay 72′), Rico Henry (Roerslev 42′), Christian Norsgaard (Onyeka 72′), Vitaly Janelt (Schade 72′), Mathias Jensen, Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa
Substitutes: Thomas Strakosha, Neal Maupay, Kevin Schade, Zanka, Saman Ghoddos, Frank Onyeka, Keane Lewis-Potter, Mads Roerslev, Yegor Yarmoliuk
Referee: Craig Pawson
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