United Palace coup

NEWCASTLE

- By LEE RYDER

United broke down Crystal Palace thanks to two secondhalf goals at St James' Park to hand the Magpies a much-needed Premier League victory to kick off 2026 in winning fashion.It puts Newcastle on 29 points after 20 games and in with a shot of the top five if they beat Leeds in midweek. However, it took Howe's Plan B to steal the game after the break.

Quizzed on a lack of effectiveness before the game, with many fans posing the same question, it took a batch of changes to liven things up against the Eagles. Harvey Barnes - many people's shout to start games over out of form Anthony Gordon - had an effective impact on this encounter.

But the big heroes were Lewis Miley, Bruno Guimaraes and Malick Thiaw as they stood up to Palace pressure.

The game kicked off with the temperature at minus 1 on Tyneside with snowfall from recent days still evident around the pitch.

The first chance fell for the Magpies as Anthony Gordon burst down the left and cut a decent pass inside for Yoane Wissa but he struck it straight at Dean Henderson.

Newcastle were then forced to absorb a spell of Palace pressure in the opening 10 minutes. Oliver Glasner lined his Eagles up with a 3-42-1 system at St James' Park, and looked to get new signing Brennan Johnson on the ball on the right.

As ever, Newcastle went with 4-3-3 with no surprises for Glasner to deal with in terms of shape.