It was not the smoothest of take-offs but, at the third attempt, Newcastle United’s Rafa-lution finally became airborne. With the final score slightly flattering, there were quite a few nervous moments and, at times, Reading made life uncomfortable for Rafael Benítez’s still gelling team.
Eventually, though, a morale-boosting first win of the season rekindled hope on the Tyne. “It was most important to get three points today,” the Newcastle manager said after a match featuring two goals from Dwight Gayle. “We can play better and be stronger and I’m sure we’ll improve, but we showed character.”
Two successive defeats had demanded a response and sure enough, Benítez made four changes. If one was enforced by Mohamed Diamé’s ankle injury, Jamaal Lascelles, Daryl Janmaat and Rolando Aarons were all dropped to the bench. In the case of Lascelles this represented quite a statement as the young centre-half has only just been made Newcastle’s captain.
With the desperate-to-depart Moussa Sissoko unavailable after sustaining a diplomatic training knock, the replacements included Yoan Gouffran, who has barely featured in the first team over the past two years. No matter; the Frenchman swiftly created the opening goal for Isaac Hayden and operating in a wide-left attacking-midfield role, generally played rather well.
Gouffran and company briefly believed they had taken a third-minute lead before that “goal” was rightly disallowed for a blatant hand-ball on Gayle’s part following excellent approach work from Matt Ritchie and Ayoze Pérez.
When the referee and a linesman initially let it stand, an incandescent Jaap Stam and his assistants were reduced to technical-area apoplexy. Happily for the Reading manager’s sanity, a word in the referee’s earpiece from the fourth official ensured that effort was quickly chalked off.
There have been some animated figures in St James’ Park’s away dugout in recent years but few can have cut such a formidably aggressive figure as the one‑time Manchester United defender, who joined Reading in June following a stint in the Ajax coaching ranks.
After appearing to suppress the urge to charge into the area and take his place in the wall as Reading prepared to defend a free-kick, Stam’s ferocity levels rose visibly when Ritchie’s initial shot was blocked and, pouncing on the deflected loose ball, Gouffran set up Hayden to score with a low, right-foot shot.
Perhaps aware of the need to pacify their manager before half-time, the Reading players regrouped. Garath McCleary’s wonderful change of pace swept him down the right, John Swift joined in and Roy Beerens’s shot hit the bar before Danny Williams forced Matz Sels into a desperate parry. Connecting with the rebound, McCleary should really have scored but instead shot over.
Newcastle, for whom Jonjo Shelvey disappointed once again, the six-time England midfielder hitting far too many overly ambitious long balls – have developed a nasty habit of conceding goals on the brink of half-time and they were soon at it again.
Making his debut after joining from Aston Villa, Ciaran Clark, Lascelles’s replacement, brought Swift down unnecessarily, and clumsily, in the area and McCleary beat Sels from the penalty spot. Stam, suddenly a study in calm and whose side had dominated the previous 10 minutes, indulged in a restrained hand clap.
A sunny Tyneside day had morphed into a slightly chill, distinctly autumnal evening, but Ritchie quickly restored a little warmth to an increasingly fractious mood, re-establishing Newcastle’s lead from the penalty spot after Chris Gunter had fouled Gouffran.
Ali Al-Habsi, Reading’s goalkeeper, was soon beaten again and this time Gayle’s contribution proved legitimate. A brilliantly executed right-foot, 25-yard free‑kick from the former Crystal Palace striker arced over the wall and into the top corner in the wake of George Evans felling Hayden. Hayden created the fourth, his impressive cross being turned in by Gayle from close range as Newcastle’s campaign finally gained traction.
“We were the better team,” said a now composed, considered Stam, who believed his side should have had at least one more penalty. “Newcastle gave us a lot of space and we had a lot of possession. We deserved a lot more.”
