Newcastle United 1-0 Crystal Palace (Almirón 32′)
ST JAMES’ PARK — An awful lot of water has passed under the Tyne Bridge since Miguel Almiron last seized the initiative at St James’ Park.
The Paraguayan was once the coming man at Newcastle: a potent mix of pace, energy and industry that Rafa Benitez squeezed out of a reluctant Mike Ashley for a club record fee of £21million back in January 2019. But both of those names, and their wildly divergent legacies at Newcastle, now feel like ancient history at a club with its sights set firmly on a future bristling with possibility.
The perceived wisdom is that Almiron, used fairly fitfully by Eddie Howe until fixture congestion and injuries forced him to rotate his favoured front men, would not be part of Newcastle’s next step. But his performance as the Magpies extended their sensational home form to six wins in succession was a reminder of what he can add to Howe’s arsenal at just the right time.
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With Premier League safety secured thoughts at Newcastle are now turning to how the squad will be reshaped to capitalise on the momentum they have built since the turn of the year. A healthy budget is one thing, but the club’s hierarchy needs to box clever – and being smart sellers is a key part of good recruitment.
To dip under Financial Fair Play requirements and supplement a decent summer transfer budget Howe will have to make some tough calls and Almiron, a big earner who retains good re-sale, might find himself vulnerable. The player, though, is desperate to stay.
A commonly held argument is that for an offensive player, Almiron doesn’t impact games enough in the final third. But this is his first run of games in Howe’s rebooted Magpies, who press high, feed off a crowd and have – in Bruno Guimaeres – the perfect playmaker for a player like Almiron.
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace player ratings
Newcastle
- Dubravka 6
- Krafth 7
- Burn 8
- Schar 7
- Targett 9
- Guimaraes 7 (Longstaff n/a)
- Shelvey 7
- Joelinton 7
- Almiron 8 (Murphy 6)
- Wood 6
- Saint-Maximin 7 (Willock 7)
Palace
- Guiata 6
- Clyne 6
- Anderson 5
- Guehi 6
- Mitchell 6
- Kouyate 6 (McArthur 5)
- Schlupp 6
- Olise 5 (Ayew 5)
- Gallagher 6 (Mateta 6)
- Zaha 7
- Edouard 5
Bruno was not quite as pitch perfect as he had been in Sunday’s late win over Leicester. But he still conjured the creative moment of the first half when his beautifully weighted ball gave Almiron something to chase. Zeroing in on the Vicente Guaita’s goal, he matched the run with a fantastic finish for his first goal since February 2021.
No-one had been in St James’ Park to see that pair but sell-outs are commonplace now, reflecting a new-found optimism at Newcastle. Their six wins have been powered by that positivity and when Liverpool visit at the end of the month, they can expect to be put through their paces.
It was some night for Newcastle, who were watched by chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan for only the third time since the PIF that he represents bought the club. This was the first win – and he joined co-owners Jamie Reuben, Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi for an impromptu kickaround on the St James’ Park turf afterwards which summed up the celebratory mood.
Palace, for their part, looked laborious at first. Patrick Vieira has overseen a reset of culture, expectations and playing style at Selhurst Park and has a team sprinkled with some of the Premier League’s most exciting players – but after being outplayed at Wembley over the weekend this was a dip.
That was perhaps understandable. Connor Gallagher, their dynamo, found a midfield rival in fine form in Bruno and struggled to shake off the attention of compatriot Joelinton.
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If they were going to score, it was Zaha who looked most likely to. Newcastle’s plan for the first 45 minutes – which was crudely effective – was for Emil Krafth to stick unfailingly to the task of unsettling him by any means necessary. Unsurprisingly that approach could only endure for so long and Zaha’s second half renaissance coincided with Palace causing Newcastle many more problems.
A 65th minute run was capped by a fizzing low shot which beat Martin Dubravka but flew wide. It was the start of Palace’s purple patch, which probably merited at least a point.
But the visitors had no-one with a point to prove like Almiron.
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