Preston 1-2 Newcastle - Match Reaction
Four days after demolishing the same opposition 6-0 in the EFL Cup, Aleksandar Mitrović and Newcastle were at it again to put Preston to the sword in the Championship. The win for Newcastle keeps them 3 points clear from 2nd place Brighton – who hammered promotion rivals Norwich 5-0 – and 10 points clear of 7th placed Sheffield Wednesday, who lie just outside the play-off zone. The victory means the Geordies have now won 7 successive games in all competitions and end October with a 100% record.
As anticipated, it was a much tighter affair compared to the midweek clash, in what was a tepid first-half, Preston got tight on Mitrović and tried to nullify any service towards him. Karl Darlow was called into action with 30 minutes played, a strong right hand to palm away Paul Gallagher’s effort. Moments later, an out-swinging Preston corner caused confusion in the Newcastle box, but the reinstated number one did well to tip the ball over the bar, after Newcastle failed to clear their lines.
In the second-half, it was the home side that looked the most dangerous going forward, Ben Pringle’s shot going wide, and the Newcastle-born midfielder was involved again after his cross fell to Gallagher, but his strike sailed passed Darlow’s right, as Preston pursued retribution after their midweek capitulation. It was a moment of quality that broke the deadlock; Ritchie picked the ball up from midfield, and his long pass to Mitrović wasn’t dealt with by Cunningham, the Serbian chested it down and coolly slotted passed Maxwell’s right, sparking absolute mayhem in the away end.
The Geordies were in full voice, “Mitro’s On Fire” echoing through Lancashire. 12 minutes later the 22-year-old was at it again, this time it was DeAndre Yedlin’s cross from the right, Mitrović’s powerful header was too hot to handle for Maxwell – failing to keep hold of the ball – the Newcastle striker followed up and slid the ball into the net – a 2-goal cushion and three crucial points in the bag, so it seemed.
However, credit to Simon Grayson and his men, they never gave up, and were rewarded. A quick one-two between Cunningham and Gallagher down the left opened up Newcastle’s defence, Cunningham’s cross was met by Beckford at the near post who flicked it passed Darlow in the 90th minute to make it a grandstand finish. Bizarrely, the fourth official held up six added minutes, and it gave the home side renewed belief that they could get something from the game. Despite playing over the allocated added time, Preston pushed for an equaliser and were denied a penalty in the 99th minute after Hanley pushed over Beckford – still appealing for a penalty – the ball was put back into the box and Marnick Vermijl’s acrobatic overhead-kick came off the post. In what was the last kick of the game, the referee finally blew for full-time, tension soon turned into jubilation for the 5,626 travelling supporters.
Final points:
Yet again, Mitrović was excellent in front of goal, and has given Benítez a real selection headache ahead of Dwight Gayle’s return. Ideally, we would like to see the two play upfront together, but we all know Benítez prefers the 4-4-1-1 formation, with either Diamé or Ayoze playing behind the sole striker. As Norwich and Huddersfield both lost – and lost by large margins – it made Saturday’s victory that much sweeter. Brighton have hit form and Chris Hughton has a tidy little set up in Sussex – expect them to push us this season.
It would’ve been nice to see Atsu given the nod ahead of Gouffran; I just feel he gives us more energy and drive when going forward; then again, our win record with Gouffran in the side is exceptional. This has been a brilliant start to the campaign, top of the league and in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. We go again next week!
