Hull 0-2 Newcastle: Murphy shines as Mags win without 19 players at the MKM

Eddie Howe's Mags stepped up their pre-season preparations with a 2-0 win over Hull City this afternoon, with Alexander Isak and man of the match Jacob Murphy getting on the scoresheet at the MKM Stadium.

After a training camp at the Adidas HQ in Germany - which ended with a 3-1 win over SpVgg Unterhaching - and a behind-closed-doors meeting with Burnley earlier this week, this was our first pre-season game in front of a crowd, seeing us meet a Hull side that finished 7th in the Championship last season.

A 4,500-strong travelling Toon Army made their voices heard throughout as a slightly patched up Newcastle side missing 19 players featured a few big guns and a number of youngsters on the bench who will be buoyed by second-half cameos.

Murphy's positivity and productivity was a highlight as he played a part in both goals, but Hall showed his class in a couple of different positions (CDM, LCM, LB), Joelinton looked strong, Burn was solid at centre-back, Pope made one superb save, Isak scored again and we kept a clean sheet while avoiding any injuries.

NUFC XI: Pope - Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Lewis - J. Miley, Joelinton, Hall - Murphy, Isak, Barnes.

SUBS: Vlachodimos, Ruddy, Heffernan, Turner-Cooke, Kuol, Parkinson, Stanton, Emerson, Munda, Sanusi, Thompson, Harrison, Charlton.

We made a really bright start as Joelinton - who bossed the first half - went close in the opening minute after some good link-up play between him, Hall and Murphy ended in the Brazilian arriving into the box and firing over.

The home side settled into the game and enjoyed long periods of possession without ever threatening before Joelinton made his presence felt in the box once again. Isak hung up a teasing cross to the back post and big Joe had a powerful header well saved by the Hull goalkeeper, leaving the Tigers right-back in a heap at the back post.

Minutes later, Murphy delivered another teasing cross into the box from the right, only this time it just evaded Joelinton - who was making a habit of arriving into the box from midfield - and Isak. A new right-winger is needed, but it was good to see Murphy looking sharp three weeks before our opening day clash with Southampton.

Right on cue, Murphy's good work down the right was finally rewarded as he sat down his man and found Isak with a cross. The Swede reacted first at the near post and prodded past the goalkeeper to hand us a 1-0 lead. Watch the goal below:

https://twitter.com/PushGoals/status/1817191634976579885

Pope had barely been called into action in front of a packed out Newcastle end, but the big man showed his class and razor-sharp reflexes by parrying clear Reagan Slater's close-range effort moments before we made it two at the other end.

Once again, it was Murphy at the forefront of the action. His low cross was aimed for Barnes - who did well to make a darting run across the box - but the delivery went past everyone and found a way into the far corner to make it 2-0. We had a half chance to make it three just before the break, as Lewis' cross from the left was headed on target but too close to the goalkeeper by Isak.

As for the 19 who missed out, Kelly, Longstaff and Willock stayed back on Tyneside to train and build up their fitness. The game came too soon for Schar and Almiron - who only returned to training on Friday - while Guimaraes, Trippier, Gordon and Dubravka are still on leave after representing their countries this summer.

Tonali was ineligible, but Wilson (back), Lewis Miley (broken foot), Botman (ACL) and Lascelles (ACL) remained sidelined due to injury, with Targett also edging his way back from an injury-riddled 2023/24. It's not so clear why Ashby, A. Murphy and White weren't involved, however, while Gillespie's omission isn't much of a shock given the number of goalkeepers at Howe's disposal.

To my surprise, Howe made no changes at the break and stuck with the same 11, although it felt like a matter of time until we saw a number of youngsters come on. Murphy continued to look our biggest threat and almost set Barnes in behind, only for the former Leicester man to miss control the ball just as he looked set to burst clear. Minutes later, Livramento fired over after Lewis' ball from the left evaded Isak, who could've grabbed a second on the hour mark when his effort from a Barnes cut-back was brilliantly blocked by the Hull defender.

A raft of changes followed soon after as Sanusi, Harrison, Turner-Cooke and Parkinson replaced Isak, Barnes, Livramento and Joelinton with 63 minutes on the clock. A great chance for a host of U21 talents to show Howe what they're capable of, with Sanusi an exciting winger in England's U17 ranks and Harrison a highly-rated attacking midfielder who swapped Man City for Newcastle earlier this year.

18-year-old Harrison immediately looked calm and comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces and was always showing for it. The pace of the game had slowed in the second half - although our shape always seemed pretty solid - and Pope was forced into his second save of the match with 20 minutes remaining, comfortably pushing Longman's edge of the box effort to safety.

With 73 on the clock, we saw three more changes. Vlachodimos replaced Pope for his first public outing in front of the Toon Army, while winger Emerson and England youth midfielder Munda replaced Lewis and Murphy.

Vlachodimos was immediately tested within a minute of entering the pitch as Omur's shot from range was tipped away for a corner by the Greek international. It was a Newcastle side full of youngsters at this point, featuring plenty of square pegs in round holes, so it felt like a period of Hull pressure was coming over the final 15 minutes.

The only 'senior' players left on the pitch at this point was Hall, Burn, Vlachodimos and Krafth, with another two teenagers coming on as 19-year-old midfielder Ellis Stanton and Geordie full-back Dylan Charlton replacing Miley and Hall.

A rare attack followed for Howe's young Mags, where an isolated Sanusi did well to win a corner soon after drawing a foul on the same flank. At the other end, Burn looked assured as our left-sided centre-back and looks the favourite to start the season in that role while Kelly builds his fitness and settles into the squad.

The second half was a classic pre-season friendly in the end, but it's good to see us score a few in the first half, pick up no injuries and see out a win to nil ahead of tomorrow's trip to Japan.

https://TWITTER.com/DomScurr/status/1817211749948436796