Newcastle United 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Islam Slimani made his long-awaited debut for Newcastle United against Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon, but it was Ayoze Perez who ended the game as the hero.
His late goal secured a huge 1-0 victory at St James’ Park, the Magpies’ third at home in a row, further easing their Premier League relegation fears and escalating the Terriers’ markedly.
Here are four talking points from great afternoon for Rafa Benitez’s men.
Slimani did make his debut – but Perez stole the show
The man everyone had come to see did make an appearance with 15 minutes left on the clock, replacing Dwight Gayle, who would once again live to rue missed opportunities. Rapturous applause met his arrival, but he only had to look on as, after a lot of huffing and puffing, Perez gave Newcastle a late lead thanks to some great work from Kenedy who, in truth, had one of his quieter games in a black and white shirt, and another substitute Christian Atsu.
One of Benitez’s biggest victories this season has been the improvement and development of some members of the squad; his work with Perez has certainly gone under the radar. The Spaniard, criticised for being lightweight, ineffectual and indecisive at times, picked his moment perfectly to grab a crucial goal. Slimani, quite understandably, took time to get involved in the play, and perhaps most frustratingly for everyone involved, he is on loan from Leicester and cannot feature against his parent club next weekend.
Dwight Gayle may just be looking over his shoulder now Islam Slimani is fit
Slimani’s arrival on transfer deadline day in January appeared to be just what the doctor ordered for Newcastle. Benitez had demanded a top-level striker since promotion from the Championship was confirmed; but a lack of planning in the winter meant the Algerian, struggling with a thigh strain picked up in training with Leicester, would not be fit enough for a couple of weeks. That soon turned into a couple of months, until he was finally named on the bench on Saturday. Gayle may have got a few more opportunities than predicted, but he has struggled to take them; failure to convert chances has been a constant theme throughout the season, as Benitez suspected, and the former Crystal Palace man was the biggest culprit again.
Two clear cut chances, one a lob over Jonas Lössl from the edge of the box and the other a volley over the bar, went begging in the first half and the frustration grew for both him and the Newcastle fans, in part because they’d been there before. There isn’t much time for Slimani to make an impact, but given the Magpies could have been out of sight in the first half, the stage is set for him heading into the run-in, despite his absence next week.
Lössl and Laurent Depoitre impressive for organised Terriers
For all of Newcastle’s pressure in the first half, Lössl was the best player on the pitch for Huddersfield. Having lost and failed to score in their last three Premier League games, they were never likely to take the game to the hosts, like they did in their win at St James’ Park last season. David Wagner selected Laurent Depoitre ahead of Steve Mounie, providing more of a presence in attack and allowing his side to keep their shape better in defence.
Huddersfield were powerless to stop Newcastle taking the game by the scruff of the neck after an open start to proceedings, and only the home side’s failings in front of goal kept them in the game. Lössl played his part, though, and deserves credit for keeping the consistent threat at bay before the break. Depoitre, too, grew into the game, and the longer the game stayed goalless, the more confident they got. The Belgian striker went close on the hour mark after some decent linkup play with Aaron Mooy, he swung and shot wide, offering a warning to the hosts.
More terrible luck for Elias Kachunga
The visiting fans who had made the 120-mile trip to Newcastle will have gotten an early boost when they saw the teamsheet with Elias Kachunga’s name on it. The German was one of their players of the season in their successful Championship campaign last year, with his blend of pace and strength offering something different for Wagner either out wide or up front. He was returning from a serious knee injury, which kept him out for three months, and those travelling will have expected an impact.
It wasn’t to be, though; in fact, he may be back in the treatment room again after a poor tackle from DeAndre Yedlin in the second half. After a lot of anger from up in the gods at St James’, as well as the away dugout, Kachunga was forced off and replaced by Collin Quaner. Huddersfield are lacking goalscoring options as it is, and Wagner will have been hoping to have one of his better players back in action for the foreseeable future, but that now looks in doubt. Wagner and Huddersfield will be seriously concerned with some big games on the horizon.
