When the final whistle blew Steve McClaren looked slightly stunned. A little reminiscent of a man who has finally passed his driving test after countless attempts and is too exhausted emotionally to celebrate, Newcastle United’s manager wandered on to the pitch in an apparent daze.
As the weeks have passed, the nights lengthened and results worsened there has been one constant on Tyneside: McClaren’s commendable calm and, outwardly at least, good humour.
It was underpinned by a stubborn belief his team would finally click and the club’s marquee, £14.5m summer signing, Georginio Wijnaldum, would eventually reveal the devastating talent that made the attacking midfielder such a hit at PSV Eindhoven last season.
At long last the former England coach’s patience was rewarded in the form of a dramatic first Premier League win of what has been threatening to turn into a gruelling grind of a season. If the end of an afternoon featuring a brilliant performance from not only Wijnaldum but Moussa Sissoko prompted a sense of utter relief, McClaren could barely raise a half-smile, let alone a fist-pump.
Jubilation was centred primarily on the Gallowgate End where the triumphant strains of Blaydon Races served as a reminder that Wijnaldum had scored four goals, Sissoko created four and Aleksandar Mitrovic, who contributed a fabulous volleyed goal of his own, looked to have nailed the part of a proper Newcastle United centre-forward.
It would, though, be wrong to reduce Norwich City to the role of mere extras in what increasingly became the Wijnaldum and Sissoko show. If the way those two midfielders switched flanks frequently wrongfooted Alex Neil’s players – not to mention heightening their vulnerability to counterattacks – the visitors did not surrender their hitherto excellent away record lightly. Indeed for brief spells Norwich looked potential winners, with Nathan Redmond a prospective man of the match.
Even so they began as they finished – very much on the back foot. A promising Newcastle attack had looked like evaporating when Mitrovic found his path to goal blocked, but then in surged Sissoko to salvage the situation. When the Frenchman shaped to shoot Norwich were duped, but instead Sissoko slipped the ball to Wijnaldum who showed commendable composure and subtlety to place his shot in the bottom corner.
So far, so good for Newcastle but a reminder of their enduring fallibility arrived as Robbie Brady sent a 30-yard shot crashing against a post. That warning was swiftly followed by an equaliser. When Martin Olsson crossed with menace Dieumerci Mbokani, borrowed from Dynamo Kyiv, volleyed beyond Rob Elliot – deputising manfully for the injured Tim Krul – from close range. It was a good goal but its origins were rooted in slapdash defending on a day when, unusually, Daryl Janmaat struggled.
Maybe the right-back’s travails had something to do with Sissoko and Wijnaldum’s flank-swapping but whatever the reason – and Brady was part of the equation – Newcastle wobbled. With Mbokani impressing as a physically imposing and highly mobile centre-forward, it took another intervention from Sissoko to settle Newcastle nerves.
So often an underachiever in recent months, he shone and his wonderfully whipped-in cross soon created Newcastle’s second goal. Once again the scorer was Wijnaldum who took advantage of slack marking – Steven Whittaker will not relish watching replays – to steal in front of his supposed minder and dispatch a glancing header beyond John Ruddy.
Temporarily in the ascendant Newcastle extended their lead. Created by Sissoko – this was becoming quite a theme – the goal owed much to the persistence of Ayoze Pérez. With Mitrovic’s decoy run having deceived Neil’s defence the Spanish striker advanced only to find his initial shot blocked by Olsson. Regaining possession Pérez made no mistake at the second attempt.
At times Norwich’s penchant for passing the ball around at the back seemed self-destructive but going forward it was a different matter entirely. Appropriately enough a seven-man passing move coinciding with a home concentration lapse concluded with Redmond finding himself unmarked and connecting with Olsson’s cross before directing a cushioned volley beyond the helpless Elliot. It was Redmond’s fourth goal in nine Premier League games this season and reinforced the feeling he is close to becoming a very special player.
Redmond was presumably one of the reasons why, early in the second half, McClaren’s team dropped alarmingly deep as Norwich appeared to deploy every single item in an often highly technical armoury in pursuit of an equaliser.
Then came the watershed. As Newcastle broke forward on the counterattack Sissoko’s chip played in Mitrovic. Having chested the ball down the Serbia striker defied Ruddy courtesy of that glorious volley. Down in the visiting technical area Neil, ever intense, cursed before folding his arms a little tighter.
A measure of atonement soon followed for Janmaat, his excellent cross being headed home by Wijnaldum at the far post. As the Dutchman celebrated becoming the first Newcastle player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Demba Ba four years ago the tension visibly ebbed from McClaren.
Redmond subsequently hit a post but it was Wijnaldum’s day, goal No4 arriving when his long-range shot struck Whittaker’s shin before looping over poor Ruddy.
Man of the match Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle United)
