Leeds 0-2 Newcastle - Match Reaction
Newcastle ran out 2-0 winners away to Leeds on Sunday, taking their stretch of wins in the league to eight. Dwight Gayle disappointed headline writers hoping to capitalise on his misdemeanours by being anything but toothless – notching another brace taking him to 13 on the season.
The first goal came from a characteristic error from ‘keeper Rob Green (how does he continue to get a professional gig?) when Jack Colback launched a ball towards goal, and Gayle was able to poke home after the ball was flapped in his direction. But if the opener was fortuitous, the second was well-deserved. Ayoze Perez and Vurnon Anita played a neat one-two and the latter squared the ball for Gayle to tap home. It was a great team goal, and it was the type of play that differentiated Newcastle from their hosts, and perhaps the league more generally. It was a piece of quality that wins you games. And leagues.
I might go as far as to say that this was Newcastle’s best performance of the season. I had them down for a draw. I imagined a sell-out partisan crowd ready to renew battle with a fellow northern, post-industrial foe and that such energy and passion generated would drive the home team to at least a point. I may have been right about the attendance, but it didn’t seem to translate to the pitch. Leeds have been in good form so they shouldn’t have lacked any confidence. It seems, instead, as if Newcastle approached this game differently from previous away trips.
They stepped on the front foot early, denied Leeds space to play, and were dominant throughout. It is hard to say whether this was just Newcastle executing their game plan better than they have in previous games – or whether Benitez has, in past games, wanted his players to operate more cautiously. Either way, Newcastle were by far the better side. They came to town as slight favourites but quickly asserted their dominance. They exuded confidence without complacency, and once more stamped their authority on the league.
To individual performances: and I thought the back four had perhaps their best game so far. They looked assured and strong – and capably dealt with the aerial threat Leeds posed. Darlow was excellent in goal, pulling off a couple of important saves in both halves. Newcastle are increasingly looking like a team that starts (and wins) from the back. They have not lost a game in which they score first, and it seems gone are the days when they need to score three or more to win. What is it they say? Attackers win games but defences win championships?
Ayoze Perez was perhaps a cause for concern. One might say this ‘shadow striker’ role Benitez is partial to is the one area where Newcastle seem a little disjointed. The role seems contrived – a position that Benitez has imposed on the team irrespective of the players at his disposal or the team we are playing. Neither Perez or Diame appear wholly comfortable there, and there is a debate about whether Newcastle need to play so cautiously, especially with the defence playing so well. Would we really expose ourselves if we played Mitrovic and Gayle up front? Offensively both are capable of linking the play, and with such a presence up front one imagine that opposing teams would be much more cautious about venturing forward given what might come back at them. Especially at home.
Perhaps Benitez readying us for the Premier League, where 4-4-1-1 seems to be the norm – but we are not there yet. Instead of playing just one in-form striker – perhaps we can get both up and running. There’s always an argument for continuity (we are winning games after all), but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve – and no-one more than Benitez has been firmer on that.
