2 April 2025
Newcastle 2 Brentford 1
This season will be engraved into the history of Newcastle football club having won their first major silverware for over 50 years. Confidence could not be higher at St James’ Park right now. Eddie Howe’s side need to try and utilise that to push for a top four spot this season and the reward of Champions League football that comes with it. They welcomed Brentford up north for this encounter.
With so many clubs across Europe eyeing up some of The Magpies’ top talent, you kind of feel they need to be in the top four this season to have any hope of keeping them at St James’ Park. In the case of Alexander Isak, if the right bid comes in, even that might not be enough. With Newcastle’s standing in world football right now, sadly there will always be players who want bigger and better.
The Magpies should have taken an early lead when Barnes combined with Livramento out wide. He stood a perfectly-weighted cross into the middle, only to see Isak head wide of the target. He was under some pressure from the Brentford defenders but the Swede sets extremely high standards for himself and would have expected to do a lot better.
For the majority of the first-half, these two sides seemed to be cancelling each other out. Brentford were on a club-record run of five consecutive away wins in the Premier League. Thomas Frank’s side must feel capable of beating anyone on their travels right now. However, they had failed to create a single chance at St James’ Park and without change, victory seemed somewhat impossible.
Suddenly a ball over the top was misjudged by Pinnock, Isak ran clean through on goal. As he weaved his way inbetween defenders, he sat the keeper down before scooping the ball to the back post for Barnes to head home. The flag immediately went up for offside and the Newcastle winger seemed to be berating his teammate for not playing it to him sooner.
Deep into added time, Murphy was creating problems out wide. His inch-perfect cross found Isak in the middle as Mbuemo slipped in front of him. The Magpies’ striker slotted home as St James’ Park erupted into a cauldron of noise. It was no more than the hosts had deserved, having dominated most of the first-half.
This is what Isak gives this Newcastle team. He is so clinical in front of goal that he only needs one chance to punish you. It would be a huge setback for The Magpies to lose a striker of such calibre but if rumours are true, both Liverpool and Arsenal are circling like vultures. With uber-rich Saudi owners, the fans probably feel they shouldn’t need to sell but money still talks, along with PSR.
After the interval, The Magpies continued to look most dangerous when Brentford got forward. Another quick counter-attack saw Murphy with the ball in the box, He tried to get a shot away, but it was blocked, then opting to pick out Barnes just inside the penalty area. The former Leicester winger drilled his shot into the ground, with it spooning up in the air and causing Flekken no problems.
The Bees came forward and Mbuemo clipped a dangerous ball into the box. Pope came out to claim it but Wissa ghosted in to get to it before him. The keeper took the striker down and the referee did not hesitate in pointing to the spot. There were no arguments from any of the Newcastle players, it was clear for all to see that it was a poor challenge from their teammate, oblivious to the danger around him.
Mbuemo stepped up to take the spot-kick, hoping to protect his perfect penalty record for Brentford. He sent the keeper the wrong way as he stroked it into the net to silence St James’ Park. The equaliser had been against the run of play but this is the danger Thomas Frank’s side possess. Slender one-goal leads are precarious positions to be in at this level.
Things almost went from bad to worse for the hosts. Schade clipped a cross into the box and Pinnock rose above the Newcastle defence to head it. Pope was rooted to the spot but was glad to see the effort crash against the post and come back into play. The Magpies keeper reacted well to dive on it before any of the Brentford players could react.
Then came the most bizarre moment of the game. Guimaraes played the ball to Barnes. He spotted Tonali in space out wide and fed it into his path. The Italian did not even look up before drilling a supposed cross into the middle. However, he caught it with real venom and it swerved towards goal, catching out Flekken at his near post.
Questions will be asked of any keeper that is beaten at his near post but in the defence of Flekken, the ball was travelling as it arrowed towards goal. Tonali would no doubt tell you he meant to shoot but the jury is out on that one. From such a tight angle, the odds on scoring from there would have been huge. Sadly the Italian is not about that life anymore.
As the fourth official announced eight minutes of added time, things became a bit nervy in St James’ Park. Schade made a great run in between his markers to get onto a pass from Wissa. He clipped a ball into the middle which found its way to Damsgaard. He took one touch to set himself and, with the goal at his mercy, fired his shot over the crossbar.
Newcastle held on for all three points, which took them into fifth place, just one point behind Man City in fourth. It should be a rollercoaster of a finish to the season for the Carabao Cup holders. Brentford slip down into twelfth position, needing to put a decent run together if they are to have any hope of qualifying for some of the lesser European competitions.
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