Aleksander Isak scored the winner to help Newcastle produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Despite a fast start, Thomas Frank’s squad still led 1-0 at halftime, due to Ivan Toney’s second penalty of the day, after the striker had a goal ruled out for offside by VAR and then missed from the spot for the first time since 2018. Newcastle responded after the break, scoring two goals in six minutes, thanks to Alexander Isak and David Raya’s terrible own goal. As a consequence of their fifth consecutive Premier League victory, Newcastle reclaimed third place, level on points with Manchester United but with a considerably superior goal difference.
Brentford had been defeated 1-0 by Manchester United on Wednesday and never really got going in what was primarily a defensive-first performance at Old Trafford. From the first whistle, it was evident they intended to do it on home turf. The Bees raced out of the blocks, winning their first corner within two minutes, and believed they had taken the lead before 10 minutes when Toney scored from close range after Nick Pope cleared Jansson’s header off the line. However, VAR intervened and the ‘goal’ was called out because Toney had strayed offside during the build-up.
Newcastle had them pinned back for a while until Kevin Schade rushed into the area and was cleaned out by Sven Botman. Referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot, but Toney was denied for the first time in his Brentford career by Pope, who smothered an uncharacteristically feeble effort. Before halftime, VAR was used for the second time, with Kavanagh heading to the pitchside monitor after Rico Henry was hit in the face by Isak’s high boot. There looked to be some reluctance in Toney’s decision to take it, but he did – and this time, he didn’t make a mistake.
After halftime, Howe introduced Anthony Gordon and Callum Wilson, and Newcastle’s attack picked up almost immediately. With 54 minutes remaining, Joelinton was given time to dance into the area, pick his place, and smash a shot that touched Raya and nestled into the net. Wilson squared for Isak, who took advantage of the minimal pressure put on him to curl a superb effort past Raya – and it could have been three within moments if VAR hadn’t identified Wilson’s handball when he brought down a corner and shot home. That decision looked to motivate Brentford to at least force an equalizer.
“I thought our performance was outstanding. Wow, the first half. We might have been 3-0 up from normally Mr 100 percent [Toney] and a marginal offside for the first goal, so what a performance in many, many ways there,” Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said. “Unfortunately, Newcastle turned it around in the second half with two moments, but despite that, we rallied back and put pressure on. The gamers were battling, sprinting, and giving everything they had, so kudos to them. I must argue that it was the margins that didn’t go our way in this game. We absolutely earned something from this game.”
“It was a very difficult game, as we expected. We didn’t get off to a good start, and the first half wasn’t pretty from our perspective. Brentford placed us under a lot of strain. I felt we were punished severely by a few of VAR decisions, but the group responded admirably in the second half,” Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said. “The second penalty, I’m not convinced, is a clear and obvious error, and the handball, I believe, is unfair to Callum since his hands are down by his side and he has no reaction time. I’m not sure about the handball rules right now, but I thought they were two tough rulings. We changed things tactically first and foremost [at halftime], and I believe it may sometimes simply provide a different dynamic. I believe it did, and the group responded admirably. We gave them a few tips on what we thought we needed to modify and do better, but what a character they had.”
For more football scores, click here
