Saturday night’s match ended Newcastle 2 Burnley 1.
Before each match, we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives after the match.
Plenty to talk about after this one!
On this occasion it is ‘Matt Busby said to Joe Harvey…’:
POSITIVE
A win is a win
Make no mistake, those were three huge points. Mission accomplished.
Bruno scored an audacious goal straight from a corner to put us ahead, and Tony Gordon showed his penalty taking skills.
I thought both our wide players did well and Guimaraes was MOTM again.
After collecting 10 points out of 12, we are just three points clear of the top four on Sunday morning, and in our first fifteen games we have more points on the board than we did this time last season.
Turn, turn, turn
Barnes and Murphy were unused, Tonali played less than a few minutes, while Miley, Hall, Joelinton and Wissa were all rested for at least two-thirds of the game.
When the team was announced I thought our midfield looked weaker than ever before this season, but Eddie put his faith in Willock and Ramsey and they didn’t let him down.
We’re going back on Wednesday for the little business of the Tyne-Wear derby next Sunday, so we need to keep everyone fresh and informed.
Return of the Wiss
Well, it’s more like the first time we’ve seen the less spotted Yoane, as the boy hasn’t been in the picture so far.
I think the biggest cheer of the day was when our summer signing from Brentford came into contention.
It took a long time and although he didn’t see the ball much, his movement looked decent and Nick got a well-deserved rest.
NEGATIVES
We missed a golden opportunity to improve our GD
Being able to rotate and win is a huge positive, although the winning style may have left a lot to be desired.
With them leading 2-0 and their left-back having received his marching orders, we all thought this presented a great opportunity to improve our goal difference.
That didn’t happen, in fact the pedants will say we lost the second half 1-0.
Disjointed performance?
At times we looked slow, we gave up possession too easily and, especially in the first half, we invited pressure too often from a team that is in the bottom three for good reason.
That led to a series of corners at the Gallowgate End, where Ramsdale fluttered and a few nervous moments.
In the second half we tried to run the ball into the net, but what we needed were a few more direct tries, such as Tony Gordon’s, a piledriver that fired over the Gallowgate crossbar.
Ohhh Martin Dubravka
I’m certainly going to divide opinion here, but when the crowd was as lackluster as the players, my Yoane Wiss really boiled as the Gallowgate End serenaded one of Burnley’s players, a two-time League Cup winner during his time at NUFC, even though we’ve only won it once in our history.
That’s what I’m talking about (and not for the first time)!
You have read what the positive and negative aspects of Matt were against Burnley, please use the comments section below to give your positives and negatives from what you watched.
Newcastle 2 Burnley 1 – Saturday 6 December 2025 3pm
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Bruno 31, Gordon 45+8 pen
Burnley:
Pires red card 43, Flemming 90+4 pen
Possess was Newcastle 69% Burnley 31%
Total shots were Newcastle 17 Burnley 9
Shots on target were Newcastle 7 Burnley 3
Corners were Newcastle 9 Burnley 9
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 25 Burnley 19
Newcastle team vs Burnley:
Ramsdale, Livarmento, Thiaw, Schar, Burn (Hal 63), Willock (Miley 63), Bruno, Ramsey (Tonali 96), Gordon (Joelinton 74), Elanga, Woltemade (Wissa 74)
Unused subs:
Ruddy, Barnes, Alex Murphy, Jacob Murphy
#positive #negative #points #Newcastle #Burnley