Howe hails ‘big step forward’ after Thiaw seals nervy win

Snapshots ofa beaming Eddie Howe at the final whistle do not quite tell the whole story.

- Louise Taylor

Newcastle’s manager describes January asa “season defining” month for his inconsistent side and he looked suitably delighted to begin it with the collection of three points as Crystal Palace’s winless run stretched to seven games in all competitions.

Yetthose home smiles allied tothe bald statistics of a victory secured thanks to second-half goals from Bruno Guimaraes and Malick Thiaw offer a perhaps slightly misleading summary of this often chaotic collision between the Carabao Cup and FA Cup holders.

Indeed, if the injury-hit visitors had not been quite so vulnerable to set pieces, the outcome of a contest decided by two poorly defended dead balls might well have been different.

By the 78th minute, when Guimardes’s inswinging corner eventually dropped before Thiaw, who poked the ball past Dean Henderson, the disappointment was writ large across Oliver Glasner’s face.

Until then, the visitors had looked eminently capable of securing at least adraw from an ugly match almost as bleak as the bitter winter chill that ensured there will be no imminent thaw onasnowy, icebound Tyneside. With the exception of Thiaw, Guima-rdes and Lewis Miley, a 19-year-old midfielder once again outstanding out of position at right back, not too many home players were at their best.