MY ACCOUNT
Jonjo Shelvey’s second-half strike handed Newcastle just their second win of the season, beating Leeds 1-0.
The best chance of the first half fell Shelvey’s way as he struck a venomous left-footed volley at goal, but Illan Meslier denied him with a fine save.
Shelvey got the better of the Leeds goalkeeper in the second half, however, with the Frenchman allowing the Newcastle midfielder’s low free-kick to slip through his fingers into the bottom corner.
Leeds had enjoyed back-to-back victories coming into this game, but were unable to maintain their form and slipped to defeat at home despite dominating the ball.
Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa bemoaned his side’s wastefulness and admitted to missing injured centre-forward Patrick Bamford.
He said: “We had the dominance and we had the chances to win the game. In the closing [stages] of the game, it was difficult for us to get the goal. That increased their danger through their counterattacks.
“It is important to be able to count on [Bamford] but throughout this period he has had different injuries.
“In this moment there is no clarity about when he will be recovered. Given how long he has been out for, when he is healthy he also need a period to get up to speed.”
Match-winner Shelvey was bullish after the final whistle, with Eddie Howe’s side now just one point from safety.
He said: “We have never had any doubts, everyone is in this together. We will keep going and we believe we have enough to stay up.”
Did you know?
Newcastle picked up their first away league win of the season in their 10th such outing (D3 L6); it’s the longest they’ve waited for their first away win from the start of a league season since 2012-13, when their first victory came in their 12th away game.
This was Leeds’ first Premier League defeat to a side starting the day in the relegation zone since December 2003, a 3-1 defeat to Wolves, and their first at home since November 2002 when they lost 4-2 to Bolton.
Newcastle have won eight of their last 12 league visits to Elland Road (D1 L3). No side in Premier League history has won more away games at Elland Road than the Magpies (seven, level with Liverpool).
Leeds have lost two of their last three Premier League games at Elland Road (W1), as many as their previous 14 home league matches before this (W5 D7 L2).
Leeds have conceded 40 goals in 21 Premier League games this season, the earliest they have shipped 40+ league goals from the start of a league campaign since 2006-07 in the Championship (also 21 games).
Newcastle’s Shelvey has scored 61% of his Premier League goals from outside the penalty area (14/23); of players with 20+ goals in the competition, only David Ginola (67%) and Laurent Robert (65%) have a higher such ratio.
