Newcastle took a massive step towards securing their Premier League safety tonight, beating Burnley 2-0 at St.James Park.
The Magpies got off to an excellent start when Swiss defender Fabian Schar scored a thunderous long-range effort after 24 minutes, before impressive youngster Sean Longstaff doubled the home sides lead before the break, with his first goal for the club.
Burnley would improve during the second period and did apply some pressure, but Newcastle held on for the win, and speaking afterwards, Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez was full of praise for his side.
“I am very proud. The players deserve a lot of credit, we knew it would be a tough game against a physical team,” Benitez told BBC’s MOTD.
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”We managed well in the first half and had control and then in the second half we have to defend crosses and long balls and we did it quite well. Still, we could be better sometimes but overall it was a great performance and good team spirit. The fans appreciate that.
“The players understand what we want, if the game plan goes well or not, they manage well how the other team will react and how to control these things. We try to impose our game and we have to adapt and we can do it.”
Tonight’s win sees Newcastle move up to 13th place in the Premier League table, seven points away from the relegation zone.