Wilson and ASM shine as United beat Burnley
Newcastle United 3-1 Burnley
A fine individual effort from Allan Saint-Maximin and two goals from Callum Wilson, his third and fourth of the season, secured all three points for Newcastle in a reasonably comfortable win against a pointless Burnley side.
Allan struck first, as early as the 14th minute, picking up the ball on the edge of the centre circle after a neat lay off by Wilson before racing to the edge of the Burnley box. Cutting left then right, Saint-Maximin fired low and true to Pope's left and into the bottom corner to give United the lead.
A goal from Westwood early in the second half was a cracker, with the ball falling to the Burnley player after a corner was cleared to the edge of the box before being lashed home from range.
Burnley would only be ahead for 4 minutes however, Saint-Maximin this time the creator, with his dancing and lightning footwork allowing him to race clear on the right wing before delivering a delicious cross for Wilson to tap home in the 65th minute.
And the United front man would round off the scoring 13 minutes from time. This time with a lovely chip straight down the centre of the goal in converting a penalty earned when Pope had lost control of a back pass and had felled Fraser in his attempt to rectify his mistake.
This win was a much needed boost for manager Steve Bruce, who’d come under significant scrutiny from fans and some in the media following a string of less than impressing attacking performances.
Indeed United went into this game with a record of having only three shots on target in three games. Two of them coming in the 2-0 win over West Ham and the other the last ditch penalty from Wilson against Spurs. Couple this with the dire display against Newport in the League Cup Bruce was visibly irritated in his pre-match conference. The pressure was certainly starting to show.
A much below par Burley would prove ideal foil in this one then, as an error strewn performance fell neatly into the lap of Bruce and his Magpies.
Not since 1927 had Burnley not tak