Newcastle Bounces Back with Early Goals Against Hull
Newcastle hit the pitch like a team still stinging from a 4-1 beating – and determined to erase it.
They were in front inside three minutes. Willock pounced early, driving his finish past Konstantinos Tzolakis to puncture the aura around Hull’s £20 million summer signing, who had shipped only two goals before this game.
Hull barely had time to reset before they were cut open again.
Seven minutes in, Lewis Hall made it 2-0 with a move that looked straight off the training ground. Recently recalled by England, the full-back surged forward, traded sharp passes with Harvey Barnes and swept a low shot into the far corner. Two attacks, two goals, and Adnan Jakirovic’s promoted side were reeling.
They didn’t collapse, though. Hull steadied themselves, grew into the contest and refused to let the afternoon turn into a rout.
Newcastle, meanwhile, had arrived at this fixture patched together. Matthias Jaissle’s selection problems worsened when Tino Livramento pulled up with a hamstring injury on Friday, joining an absentee list that already contained eight senior players. It left the head coach leaning on youth, with 18-year-old Sean Steur handed a start in midfield.
Even with that inexperience, Newcastle controlled long spells of the first half. They moved the ball with authority, pressed high and kept Hull penned back for long stretches.
Right on the stroke of half-time, they had the chance to kill the contest. Jacob Murphy darted into the box and Sorba Thomas clipped him, the challenge clumsy enough for the referee to point to the spot. Yoane Wissa stepped up, but his tame penalty lacked conviction and Tzolakis guessed right, plunging low to keep Hull alive.
That save changed the mood. It gave Hull something to cling to.
The visitors began to threaten on the counter and from wide areas. Thomas almost made amends for conceding the penalty when he darted to the near post to meet a Matt Crooks cross, only to send his effort agonisingly wide. Newcastle, so comfortable early on, suddenly looked less certain.
Jaissle tried to wrestle back control after the interval. As the second half wore on and Steur tired, Fabian Schär came on and Newcastle shifted into an improvised back three. The idea was to solidify. It did the opposite.
The reshuffle bred confusion. A loose moment involving Lewis Miley opened the door, Mohamed Belloumi snapping in to rob him and slide the ball into the path of substitute Mohamed-Ali Cho. The former England youth international needed no second invitation, curling a precise left-footed strike past Lukas Hornicek from close range to drag Hull back into the game.
From there, the pattern flipped.
Hull poured forward. Cross after cross rained into the Newcastle box, shots flew in from the edge of the area and every clearance felt temporary. The home side, so assertive in the opening exchanges, were reduced to scrambling blocks, last-ditch headers and nervous glances at the clock.
Newcastle held on. Barely, at times, but they held on.
The win lifts Jaissle’s team to eighth on eight points, tucked in just behind seventh-placed Hull on goal difference. The table is tight, the margins even tighter. After the international break, Newcastle head into a meeting with Coventry City with momentum – and a reminder of how quickly control can slip.
Hull, beaten for the first time after two wins and two draws, now have to show the resilience of a Premier League side, not just a promoted one, as Jakirovic turns their focus to Everton.
