Big win, worrying performance - Burnley 1-3 Newcastle

A vital win, a messy game and a far-from-convincing performance as Newcastle United made hard work of a poor Burnley side in our final match of 2025.

A dream start saw us race into a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes, as Joelinton and Yoane Wissa both found the net. And just as we hoped for a comfortable away win without any drama and a rare clean sheet, we made it difficult for ourselves.

Josh Laurent pulled one back for Burnley before the break, and we rode our luck massively in a chaotic second half sorely lacking in control or quality. However, after surviving a few too many scares in a pretty awful final 45, Bruno Guimaraes capitalised on a Martin Dubravka error with a 92nd-minute strike to seal all three points.

The result moves us up to 10th, albeit temporarily, and on to 26 points, giving us a lift ahead of upcoming league games against Crystal Palace, Leeds, Wolves and Aston Villa and just our second away win of 2025/26.

Howe made four changes from our Boxing Day defeat at Man Utd, as Pope, Joelinton, Barnes and Wissa replaced Ramsdale, Ramsey, Murphy and Woltemade in the starting 11.

Newcastle XI: Pope - Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall - Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton - Barnes, Wissa, Gordon

Subs: Ramsdale, A Murphy, Shahar, Alabi, Ramsey, Willock, J Murphy, Woltemade, Neave

Burnley XI: Dúbravka - Walker, Ekdal, Estève, Pires - Ugochukwu, Laurent, Florentino - Edwards, Broja, Tchaouna.

A fast start was needed, and that's exactly what we got, scoring twice inside the opening seven minutes! First, Joelinton did brilliantly to turn Gordon's cross into the far corner past ex-Mag Dubravka, then we saw Wissa's fox-in-the-box ability moments later, as he stabbed home at the second attempt after Barnes' shot was saved.

A first league goal in exactly a year for Joelinton and Wissa's second in as many starts, with the lightning quick start having shades of Everton (4-1 win) as we came flying out of the traps.

Then came the wobble. We sat off slightly, Burnley had a period of pressure and they pulled one back, with Hall outjumped for Broja's flick on before Laurent smashed past Pope to make it 2-1 on 25 minutes.

A flurry of yellow cards followed and the game became frantic, giving us space on the break but Burnley encouragement in a match they were suddenly right back in.

Then more chances came our way to restore our two-goal advantage. Wissa missed a huge chance at the back post, heading wide from a simple corner, Barnes had a one-vs-one smothered by Dubravka and Bruno shot wide moments later.

We had to regain control in the second half and kill this game off, as sitting deep and protecting our one-goal advantage would be asking for trouble based on our recent record; even against a second bottom Burnley side.

The first scare came as Hall went down for the second time in the match, giving us yet another issue at full-back. Alex Murphy looked set to come on, but he soldiered on and managed to continue.

That was good news, although the game itself was turning into a basketball match. Just after a Burnley break and solid stop from Pope, Bruno broke superbly on half way and fed Gordon, only for the winger to get it all wrong as he leant back and smashed over.

Going back to that word 'control', we had none of it. Sloppy passing, chaotic defending, a lack of structure and very nearly 2-2, as Pope denied Edwards with a big block with his legs before a looped header clipped the bar soon after. 30 minutes to play and we were hanging on at home to a second bottom side who hadn't scored at home in four of their last five.

The chances kept coming for Burnley, with Tchaouna the latest to head over after beating Miley to the cross. It felt like we needed a third to win it, with the home side breaking past our midfield at will and rarely troubled at the other end, with us failing to muster a shot on target in the second half (up to this point) as our inability to build attacks or keep the ball reared its ugly head again.

Howe reacted with changes, as Jacob Murphy, Jacob Ramsey and Nick Woltemade replaced Barnes, Gordon and Wissa. A shift in momentum was needed and that third goal was whiskers away, with Thiaw having a header cleared off the line before Murphy fired a huge chance over after Hall's cross, even if Wissa may have been offside in the build up.

10 minutes remained and we'd regained some control without looking convincing; winning back possession, drawing fouls and having some joy on the break to disrupt Burnley's attempt to mount a late comeback.

I said we needed a third to win it and we got that two-goal advantage in stoppage time. Dubravka gave us a big helping hand with a big mix up outside his own box, and Bruno did the rest with a lovely finish from range, chipping into an empty net. 3-1, another big goal for our skipper and celebrations of sheer relief in the away end.

It wasn't pretty at all, we must improve and there is little doubt we'd have been punished against a better side playing like that, but that's a vital win and a positive end to 2025 after a largely brutal December.

Joelinton delivered a strong display on his return, defending well and standing strong to help us see it out, Wissa was a threat in the box with his second goal in as many starts, Hall showed his class and Bruno came up trumps again, driving us on in key moments. Tonali was way off it at the base of our midfield, Gordon did so little after a lightning start and Pope was Pope; good at stopping the ball going in, bad at kicking it!

Next up, a home clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday as we play four games in a row at St James' Park over the next fortnight.

Keep the faith. Howay the lads!