Scout Notes April 16
Double Gameweek 32 finally came to a finish on Wednesday evening, as Newcastle United coasted to a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace.
We look back on a one-sided affair at St James’ Park.
Newcastle turned on the style in the absence of Eddie Howe to thrash Crystal Palace at St James’ Park.
There were five goals and five different goalscorers, with the in-form Jacob Murphy (£5.2m) putting the Magpies ahead.
Harvey Barnes (£5.9m) and Fabian Schar (£5.5m) then netted on either side of Marc Guehi’s (£4.7m) own goal, as Newcastle raced into a 4-0 lead at half-time.
It felt like the only man in black and white that couldn’t score was Alexander Isak (£9.5m), but the Swede finally got his goal on 58 minutes with his sixth shot of the night, curling it into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.
Isak probably should have scored a hat-trick, however, having spurned two big chances in the first half, so Triple Captainers probably can’t help but feel a little short-changed by 11 points in Double Gameweek 32, particularly as Newcastle plundered nine goals across their two matches.
Withdrawn on 71 minutes, it should at least ensure Isak is fresh for Saturday’s trip to Villa Park.
Above: Alexander Isak’s shot map v Crystal Palace in Gameweek 32
Newcastle were a joy to watch against Palace, and it was on the break that they were at their most dangerous.
Inspired by Murphy and Barnes, they flew out of the blocks, with the former putting them in front from a nearly impossible angle following Kieran Trippier’s (£5.6m) pass. Indeed, Murphy’s shot had an xG of just 0.01!
“I did mean it, yeah! When the juice is flowing, you’ve just got to hit it. The defender’s come out so it was going to be hard to get it through him so I thought ‘ah, just shoot here’. Lovely.” – Jacob Murphy
Not long after, Murphy acted as the creator, crossing for Schar to head in.
It resulted in a 19-point haul in Double Gameweek 32, a total which was remarkably eclipsed by team-mate Barnes, with 27, thanks to three goals and one assist against Manchester United and Palace.
A quick word on Howe, too.
He registered the best Gameweek score by a manager this season with 23 points, surpassing David Moyes’ 22-point haul in Double Gameweek 24.
PointsManager (fixtures)Gameweek23Eddie Howe (MUN + CRY)3222David Moyes (LEI + LIV)2421Fabian Hurzeler (CHE)2520Vitor Pereira (AVL)2420Oliver Glasner (ful)2620Oliver Glasner (AVL)27
Above: Best Assistant Manager scores since Gameweek 23
Before the Manchester City game on Saturday, Palace had the best away defensive record in the division.
They’ve since conceded 10 goals across two matches, as many as they had in their previous 13 road trips combined.
The Eagles were simply overwhelmed at St James’ Park, despite opting for a more robust central midfield pairing of Jefferson Lerma (£4.8m) and Will Hughes (£4.9m).
With Newcastle just 1-0 up, Nick Pope (£4.9m) saved Eberechi Eze’s (£6.9m) tame penalty, and it’s safe to say Oliver Glasner’s side failed to recover.
Eze and the ineffective Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.8m) were subsequently hooked just before the hour mark.
It was a bitterly disappointing night for Daniel Munoz‘s (£5.3m) owners, too, as he ended Double Gameweek 32 on minus points, after conceding 10 goals, while also picking up a yellow card for going through the back of substitute Anthony Gordon (£7.4m).
With European qualification extremely unlikely, it is all about the FA Cup for Palace now.
“I think Newcastle were excellent and have showed this in the last few weeks. We couldn’t deal with their intensity and directness and pace. When we had the situation to get into the game it didn’t work. There are some days where nothing works, and at the same time everything worked for Newcastle.
“Sometimes it’s better to not be too analytical and you have to just throw it in the bin. This is what we’ll do today. We can analyse all the goals, but if you make mistakes on top it’s difficult in a game against Newcastle, especially when their shape is so good.
“Sometimes you don’t have the right answer. We’ve changed nothing but things aren’t working anymore. We have to be very honest. We’re Crystal Palace and if we don’t perform at our top level, Newcastle and Manchester City are better than us. We wanted to at least draw the second half but we didn’t achieve it. This influences the next games. We were a bit better. Again, it doesn’t help.
“We don’t get any points from this game. Maybe it’s good for us getting one step back. Now we’ll focus on the basics and remember what made us so strong. Now is not the time to point fingers. We’ll just look in the mirror and I’ll see what I can change a little bit.” – Oliver Glasner
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