Newcastle 5-1 Brentford: Bruno brace guides magnificent Mags into the top six
A year and a day on from the Saudi takeover announcement, Newcastle United delivered a five-star display to send us into the top six, with some Bruno Guimaraes brilliance, another Miguel Almiron goal and a superb team performance - filled with several impressive displays - helping us earn back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The victory sends us up to fifth in the Premier League on 14 points, turning as solid start into a brilliant one as Eddie Howe's ever-improving Mags built on last weekend's convincing win at Fulham.
He won't make the headlines following a 5-1 win, but Sven Botman was a man mountain and a joy to watch all afternoon, reading the game superbly, stepping out from the back impressively and dealing with the physical Ivan Toney emphatically.
Along with Wor Flags - who put on another stunning display at the Gallowgate End - I thought Joe Willock was back to his best. He didn't find the net like the equally lively Almiron, yet he carried the ball superbly and was a constant outlet.
It was actually an edgy start, as a few stray passes were followed by a Bryan Mbuemo goal that was later disallowed for a marginal offside, we kicked into gear and never looked back.
Bruno opened the scoring with a lovely header into the far corner after peeling off to the back post, although it was only made possible from a stunning Kieran Trippier cross that was whipped in with real pace and quality.
One soon became two as David Raya's pass out from the back fell straight to Calum Wilson, who squared to Jacob Murphy; who couldn't miss. We were smothering Brentford at this point, forcing them into long balls up to Ivan Toney and finding a way to get in behind their midfield at ease.
After going in 2-0 up at the break, Brentford made a better start to the second half and were soon back in it, with Ivan Toney scoring from the spot after Dan Burn was penalised for an unfortunate handball.
Any hope of a comeback was quickly put to bed, however, as Guimaraes fired a low shot into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box. Brilliant scenes followed, as "BRUNO" echoed around St James' Park. The Brazilian - who was sporting his new bleach blonde hair - was back to his best and lapping it up, scoring his first two goals of the season.
Sadly, he was forced off moments later with what's hoped is only cramp, but that didn't stop us from scoring two more in the final 10 minutes as the likes of Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin made an impact from the bench; which was refreshingly strong today.
Miguel Almiron then scored his third goal in the space of a week, capitalising on another awful pass out from the back by rounding Raya and slotting home to make it four, with our fifth coming from a vicious Joelinton cross that was turned into the Brentford net by Ethan Pinnock.
STARTING XI: Pope – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn – Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock – Almiron, Wilson, Murphy.
SUBS: Karius, Lascelles, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Lewis, Targett, Wood, Fraser, Anderson.
Next up, Man Utd at Old Trafford a week tomorrow.
HWTL!
