Newcastle’s first of two pre-season friendly matches at St James’ Park this weekend saw Eddie Howe’s side line-up with a full home debuts handed to Sandro Tonali as well as youngsters Lewis Miley and Alex Murphy.
Newcastle opened the scoring in the first half after Miguel Almiron latched onto a bursting run from Alexander Isak and calmly applied the finish. It’s the Paraguayan’s third goal of pre-season.
Isak then made it 2-0 in the closing stages as he headed the ball in from Kieran Trippier’s corner. The win takes United top of the Sela Cup table after the first round of matches with five points.
With two games on consecutive days, the majority of the players were able to get a full 90 minutes under their belt ahead of the competitive season getting under way next weekend.
Here are the Newcastle United player ratings from the match...
5. Matt Targett - 5
Sucked in too easily at times and caught out but fortunately wasn’t punished. | Getty Images
6. Sandro Tonali - 7
A first St James’ Park outing for the summer signing. A cultured presence in the midfield with some neat touches and recycled possession well without taking too many risks. Hit a free-kick just wide of the left post and released Anderson with a beautiful cross-field pass in the second half. | Getty Images
7. Lewis Miley - 7
Always looking to get on the ball in midfield and had a couple of promising moments getting forward. Continues to look at home alongside his more experienced team-mates. | Getty Images
8. Elliot Anderson - 7
Was lively going forward and got into some good areas, just lacked that killer instinct in front of goal that has been on display in previous friendly matches. | Getty Images