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Season 2021-22
Norwich City (a) Friendly

 

 
Date:
Saturday 7th August 2021, 2pm

Venue:
 St. James' Park

Conditions: Familiar
 
Programme: £3.50

Admission: £10 pre-match, £20 on the day

 

Newcastle

 Norwich City

 

3 - 0

 

 

Teams

Goals

Half time: Magpies 0 Canaries 0

55 mins Ritchie's shot from outside the box ballooned up into the air and with Wilson occupying a defender as it dropped, Matt Ritchie raced forward and prodded the ball into the Gallowgate End goal. 1-0

74 mins Ryan Fraser fed the ball forward to Dwight Gayle, whose first-time finish with the outside of his right foot dipped beyond Krul. 2-0


Fun88 (minutes)....

88 mins Dwight Gayle volleyed Javier Manquillo's right wing centre home from close range to round off an emphatic victory. 3-0

Full time: Magpies 3 Canaries 0

We Said

Steve Bruce:

"Pre-season is nearly finished. Our preparation has gone well. In terms of injuries, we’ve only really got (Paul) Dummett at the moment.

"Even though managing that has been difficult with the Covid and all the rest of it. It looks as if, hopefully, this week we’ll have a strong squad to pick from.

"We were certainly better in the second half: Jonjo Shelvey gave us a bit more control of the ball.

"I was delighted with the defending, the goalkeeper looked assured, and everybody who came on to the pitch knew the way we were going to play.”


On Shelvey:

"He's important the way we play, he acts as that pivot, the one who can find that pass and especially when we've got the pace upfront. We need to exploit that, then Jonjo is paramount to how we play....

"After Burnley, I didn't think he would have a chance
(of facing West Ham) but the way he performed today, he has another week ahead of him and let's hope he can take part in some capacity."

On Saint-Maximin:

"He’s worth his admission fee alone, isn’t he? in terms of his trickery, his pace and his power. He’s such a natural, natural footballer, the kid.

"He brightened up the whole day, and made us that threat. Let’s hope we can keep him fit. It’s vital we keep him fit and well.

"You can never say never but, absolutely, 100% I will say we’re keeping him.”

On the prospects of signing players:

"I really, really hope so…. We’re still hopeful we can get our main target - I’ll try my utmost to make it happen. I'd love to make a signing before West Ham.

"We’re in dialogue with Arsenal, but we have to respect he’s their player. Until we can reach an agreement with Arsenal, and what they want, the rest is immaterial."

They Said


Daniel Farke said: 

"The first-half was good, second-half was not good. That sums up the game. It’s always a bit disappointing when you lose the last test before the real stuff.

"Our situation in the last two weeks has been a difficult one. It was difficult to be really competitive today, we’ve only had ten players who’ve been ready to go for 90 minutes.

"These were the ten players in the starting line-up. On the bench we had Teemu Pukki who is just since yesterday back in team training and not ready for 90 minutes and Kenny McLean who’s been out for 12 weeks and has been struggling with his back this week.

"We had Jacob Lungi Sorensen as well who’s only just back from COVID. He has many symptoms and is only just on his way to finding his legs back.

"It would have been a big surprise for a team with just ten players who could played 90 minutes against a side who played in front of their home fans for the first time in a while to win.

"I quite liked the first-half. We were the better side but could have been more precise in the final third. But we were really good.

"In the second half I think some of the players were a bit tired. We’ve been giving lots of minutes to players, more than I would have liked.

"For that, we got a bit more tired and made some mistakes. The second-half was not on our level."
 

Stats


Magpies versus Canaries - PL era:

2021/22 won 3-0 Gayle 2, Ritchie (FR)
2019/20 drew 0-0
2016/17 won 4-3 Gayle 3, Gouffran (Ch)
2015/16 won 6-2 Wijnaldum 4, Perez, Mitrovic
2013/14 won 2-1 Remy, Gouffran
2012/13 won 1-0 Ba
2011/12 won 1-0 Cisse
2004/05 won 2-1 Jenas, Sh.Ameobi (LC)
2004/05 drew 2-2 Bellamy, Hughes
1994/95 won 3-0 Beardsley 2(1pen), Kitson
1993/94 won 3-0 Cole, Lee, Beardsley

Dwight Gayle appeared in the number 34 shirt against Norwich after wearing 12 earlier in pre-season. Jamal Lewis donned the number 12 shirt against his former club, having begun pre-season wearing 15.

This was his seventh non-competitive goal as a Magpie:

Jul 2016 Bohemian (a) scored after 6 minutes on the field
Jul 2016 Vitesse (h) scored after 36 minutes on the field
Jul 2017 Hearts (a) scored after 3 minutes, 25 minutes on the field
Jul 2017 Bradford City (a) scored after 50 minutes on the field
Aug 2021 Norwich City (h) scored after 8 minutes, 22 minutes on the field

Javier Manquillo and Miguel Almiron got their first minutes of pre-season , meaning that 30 players have been used in United's six kickabouts. Absent from pre-season due to injury/illness were Martin Dubravka, Karl Darlow and Elliot Anderson.

Pre-season pitch time (in minutes):

Murphy 90+81+45+83+45+80=424+1 goal
Hayden
90+58+72+83+45+66=413
Fernandez 69+32+64+79+45+66=355
S.Longstaff
30+90+80+63+45+45=353+1 goal
Ritchie 90+0+64+76+45+66=341+1 goal
Hendrick 60+90+18+90+45+24=326+1 goal
Lewis
45+85+90+27+45+24=316
Fraser 60+76+45+55+45+0=300+1 goal
Gayle 62+24+77+35+45+24=267+2 goals
Lascelles 45+81+45+27+45+24=267
Wilson 45+66+72+0+0+66=249+1 goal
Clark 0+20+46+27+55+83=231
Woodman
0+0+45+45+45+90=225
Krafth
0+0+26+63+45+66=200
Watts 90+9+45+11+35+7=197
Langley 90+90+0+0+0+0=180
Joelinton
18+0+0+55+45+45=163+1 goal
Schar 0+0+26+63+45+24=158
Saint-Maximin 45+66+0+0+0+45=156
M.Longstaff 30+24+18+14+60+0=146
Dummett 21+70+45+0+0+0=136
Gillespie 0+0+45+45+45+0=135
White 0+0+13+35+45+0=93
Young 0+14+10+7+45+0=
76
Shelvey
0+0+0+0+30+45=75
Allan
0+9+0+7+45+0=61
Almiron 0+0+0+0+0+45=45
Manquillo 0+0+0+0+0+10=10
Muto
10+0+0+0=10
Bondswell 0+5+0+0+0+0=5

Pre-season games @ SJP - PL era:

2021/22
Norwich City won 3-0 20,139
2020/21
Stoke City lost 0-1 BCD
2019/20
Hull City won 2-0 BCD (restarted season)
2019/20 St. Etienne won 2-1 16,686
2018/19 FC Augsburg lost 0-1 21,331
2017/18 Hellas Verona won 2-0 23,906
2016/17 Vitesse Arnhem won 3-2 19,200
2015/16 Borussia Munchengladbach lost 0-1 21,088
2014/15 Real Sociedad won 1-0 19,199
2013/14 Sporting Braga drew 1-1 16,187
2011/12 Fiorentina drew 0-0 12,656 (abandoned)
2010/11 PSV Eindhoven drew 2-2 16,118
2009/10 Leeds United drew 0-0 16,945
2008/09 Valencia won 2-1 31,494
2008/09
PSV Eindhoven drew 2-2 13,477
2007/08
Sampdoria won 1-0 23,078
2007/08
Juventus won 2-0 34,016
2007/08
Celtic won 4-1 30,225
2006/07
Villarreal drew 3-3 20,144
2006/07 PSV Eindhoven lost 2-3 20,185
2005/06 Yeading won 5-0 6,151
2004/05
Sporting Lisbon lost 0-1 23,446
2004/05 Rangers won 4-2 31,554

2003/04
Bayern Munich drew 2-2 32,277
2002/03
Barcelona lost 0-3 52,157
2001/02
Bilbao lost 0-1 18,189
1998/99
Juventus won 2-1 32,590
1996/97 Blyth Spartans/Gateshead won 6-0 13,593
 

Waffle

Saturday saw Newcastle end their pre-season programme on a high note, scoring three times without reply in front of over 20,000 fans at SJP.

Much had been made of the fact that United were the only top-flight side yet to make any acquisitions in this window, but some familiar faces were to the fore. 

No less than nine of the players involved for the hosts here featured when City were last on Tyneside in 2020 - six of them facing the Canaries here on that epic night back in 2016, including both today's scorers Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle.

An instantly forgettable opening half was notable chiefly for a couple of rain showers and some inept attempts at playing out of defence by the Newcastle back line - Emil Krafth in particular looking uncomfortable in possession.

Starting his fourth successive game, 'keeper Freddie Woodman was equal to a fierce volley from Pierre Lees-Melou on 12 minutes, while old boy Tim Krul reacted angrily to an aerial challenge by home debutant Callum Wilson.

Wilson stayed at home to train while his colleagues were in friendly action at Burnley on Tuesday and successfully completed over an hour here, although being careful at times to keep himself intact.

That was one major boost to Steve Bruce ahead of next weekend's season-opener at home to West Ham and another came in the shape of half time arrival Allan Saint-Maximin.

The mercurial Frenchman had sat out the previous three games due to an unspecified illness, but his appearance here instantly lifted the crowd and would soon inspire his team mates to good effect. ASM later took to social media in praise of the adulation that came his way.

A moribund opening 45 minutes was forgotten as he and Jonjo Shelvey immediately put United on the front foot and raised the tempo and noise levels accordingly. 

And within 10 minutes they were ahead, Ritchie's shot from outside the box ballooning up into the air and Wilson occupying a defender as it dropped for Ritchie to race forward and prod the ball into the Gallowgate End goal. 

A stylish second goal then arrived after Ryan Fraser found Gayle and a first-time finish with the outside of his right foot dipped beyond Krul.

Newcastle's most emphatic pre-season home victory since 2007 was then rounded off in the 88th minute, when Gayle volleyed Javier Manquillo's right wing centre in from close range.

A grand day out then for what seemed to be legions of young fans making their SJP debut, in what was the largest single gathering of Toon followers since February 2020 when Burnley visited Gallowgate. Despite the general cynicism amongst more senior watchers, that's a significant amount of birthday treats and other promises that had been outstanding.  

The margin of this victory over another does have to be seen in the context of Norwich having just dealt with a COVID outbreak that disrupted their pre-season plans and saw seven senior players absent here (plus two more missing due to injury).

While the make-up of the starting XI for next weekend is still anything but confirmed, the return of Wilson and Saint-Maximin was a welcome boost. It's always nice to see a tangible (and timely) reminder of that old terrace song, "Dwight Gayle will always score goals."

We may be hamstrung by a lack of transfer activity, but it nothing else, those currently bearing the goalscoring burden are at least starting the season fit. Keeping them that way remains paramount.
 


A winning SJP debut for 5 year-old Robbie
Davies, pictured here with proud dad, Rob



Biffa


Page last updated 21 June, 2022