Preston North End 1 Newcastle United 2: Mitrovic fires club to victory at Deepdale
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The striker netted two second-half goals at Deepdale as Rafa Benitez's side, without injured leading scorer Dwight Gayle, maintained their three-point lead at the top of the Championship.
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Hide AdMitrovic had also scored two goals in Tuesday night's 6-0 EFL Cup win over Preston at St James's Park.
The strikes took his tally for the season in all competitions to five.
Second-placed Brighton and Hove Albion, meanwhile, beat Norwich City 5-0, while Huddersfield Town were beaten at Fulham by the same scoreline.
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Hide AdUnited were made to work for the points at Deepdale, where they faced a very different Preston team.
The home team had the better of the first half, though United did have a penalty appeal waved away after Mitrovic was pulled down in the box by Tom Clarke.
Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles cleared a header from Bailey Wright off the line just after the half-hour mark.
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Hide AdSimon Grayson's side continued to push after the break, and goalkeeper Karl Darlow did well to stop a shot from Paul Gallagher.
Mitrovic and Hayden put chances wide at the other end of the pitch before United got the all-important first goal in the 59th minute.
A ball forward from Matt Ritchie was helped on towards Mitrovic, who beat Chris Maxwell with a precise finish.
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Hide AdAnd it got better for Newcastle in the 71st minute when Mitrovic prodded the ball home after initially having a header stopped.
Preston substitute Jermaine Beckford netted a late consolation for the home side, who also struck the post and had a penalty appeal turned down in added time.
PRESTON NORTH END: Maxwell, Baptiste, Clarke, Wright, Cunningham, Gallagher, Pearson, Johnson, Pringle (Beckford, 72), Robinson (Vermijl, 86), Hugill (Makienok, 83). Subs not used: Lindegaard, Spurr, Huntington, Doyle.
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Hide AdNEWCASTLE UNITED: Darlow; Yedlin (Hanley, 90), Lascelles, Clark, Dummett; Shelvey, Hayden; Ritchie (Atsu, 89), Diame, Gouffran; Mitrovic (Perez, 86). Subs not used: Sels, Lazaar, Anita, Gamez.
Goals: Mitrovic 59, 71
Bookings: Robinson 61, Pearson 63, Johnson 64, Hayden 76, Mitrovic 84, Ritchie 89
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Attendance: 20,724
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