Eddie Howe tactical masterstroke, Alexander Isak magic keep Newcastle United’s Champions League charge on course

LONDON: Risk-taker Eddie Howe admits he “threw caution to the wind” in search of three points at Brentford after his half-time masterstroke ensured Newcastle United maintained their Champions League charge.

An Ivan Toney penalty, having seen one saved by Nick Pope earlier, gave the Bees the lead before Newcastle blew their rivals away in the second period thanks to a Joelinton-created David Raya own goal, followed by a moment of absolute magic by Alexander Isak.

The game, however, was very much defined by Newcastle’s head coach and his introduction of Wilson at the midway point. Victory sees the Magpies further cement their spot right in the European mix — and this run of five wins on the bounce in the Premier League has many in the fanbase already dusting off their passports.

Newcastle remain third in the table, jumping back ahead of Manchester United after their 2-0 win over Everton earlier in the day.

Howe said: “It was a very tough game. It was very physical, as we knew it would be. We suffered in the first half. But second half, what a response from a group of players that have played three games in six days. They were asked to dig really deep for the result, but responded really well.

“We changed things tactically [in the second half]. Sometimes that can give you a lift in itself. We knew we were desperate for the result and threw caution to the wind a little bit. The players responded well physically, even though we were a little bit fatigued from the week we have had. That is down to the characters we have.”

Howe made two changes to the side who hammered West Ham in midweek, one of which was enforced. Isak and Joe Willock were both recalled with the injured Allan Saint-Maximin missing out and Callum Wilson starting this one from the bench, despite his two goals at the London Stadium on Wednesday evening.

While the Magpies were dominant on the east side of the capital, they were anything but in the west in the opening 45.

Pope started off what would turn out to be a man-of-the-match performance when he somehow managed to get a glove on a goal-bound Pontus Jansson header, only for Toney to turn in the rebound. VAR may have its doubters but it 100 percent got the first big call of the afternoon correct when it deemed the England forward offside before beating Pope to the ball.

Having already rode their luck, Newcastle’s goal continued to live a charmed life as this time two horrific defensive errors gave Toney a chance to redeem himself from 12 yards.

Fabian Schar seemed to lose the flight of the ball in the low London sun and Kevin Schade took full advantage, running the Swiss down the line before being clattered by Sven Botman in the area. No need for VAR on this one, penalty.

Having never missed a spot kick in the top flight, and only failed once from the spot in 28 attempts in senior football, few expected anything other than a Toney goal.

However, Pope had other ideas.

The keeper picked the right direction and made the save look easy.

The scenario, though, was to be played out again 20 minutes later, right on the stroke of half time.

As Rico Henry stretched to head a ball in the area, Isak stretched out a boot to clear.

Nothing was given at first, but the referee was told to have a look at the monitors. On second viewing he changed his mind and Toney this time made no mistake from the spot.

While it felt like a harsh blow, you could make a more than fair case for the hosts to be ahead at the break.

Having seen his side look a clear second best, Howe produced a bit of magic of his own at half time, switching from his usual 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 and bringing Anthony Gordon on to the field, as well as Wednesday’s hero Wilson.

The change had an almost instantaneous impact, wrestling control away from the hosts and United looked rampant, much like midweek.

They were level when Joelinton, dropped into a deeper role in the new shape, went marauding forward, turning Ben Mee inside out on the right, before firing a low cross into the danger area, which diverted into the net via the back of Raya’s leg.

From behind, the Magpies were soon in front and Swede Isak lit up the Gtech Community Stadium with a finish right from the top drawer.

Wilson worked himself into space on the right and tucked into Isak, who with one sweep of his lengthy right lever, guided round Raya and into the top corner in front of the jubilant Newcastle support.

No player in the Premier League, well outside of the other-worldly Erling Haaland, has a better goals-per-minute ratio than the former Real Sociedad man.

Wilson thought he had added another of his own when he had the ball in the net, converting a set-piece from the right. However, the ball struck his arm before he guided past Raya — and while it was again harsh, to the letter of the law, it was the right call by the officials back at Stockley Park.

In the final 15, Howe’s men had to withstand a bit of a storm, but did so thanks to the dominant, commanding actions of Pope, who made one excellent stop from a Toney flicked header.

On the break, Newcastle looked to seal the deal but Bruno Guimaraes and Elliot Anderson wasted opportunities to make this look more handsome on paper than the reality deserved.

So could Wilson and Isak playing together be an option moving forward?

Howe said: “I think they can play together in the right circumstances for the team. Do I see it long-term? Probably not. We don’t want to force it and the team suffers; we want it to be to the benefit of the team. Today was the right time and they caused them no end of problems.”