English Premier League – First Half review: West Bromwich Albion versus Newcastle United (Part 1)
The match kicked off at a comfortable pace for Newcastle and West Brom was the home side started as better of the two competing. West Bromwich forced the first corner of the match as Jonas Gutierrez blocked a West Bromwich Albion cross from the right hand
side. However, the corner in the 6th minute was a poor one as Chris Brunt’s ball in didn’t even make it past the first man in the Newcastle defence.
West Bromwich Albion looked to play with width and get some crosses into the Newcastle box to test the likes of Sol Campbell and Steven Taylor. Early on, these crosses weren’t accurate enough to trouble the two English centre backs who dealt with most of
the balls thrown at them, adequately. West Bromwich Albion were impeccable in their build up play towards the Newcastle penalty area but they fell short when it came to the final ball. Roberto Di Matteo’s team did exceptionally well to keep the visitors on
the back foot for the first ten minutes as Newcastle hardly had a look in towards the home team’s goal.
The first real chance of the match for West Brom came from their second corner kick in the 12th minute. Brunt’s delivery from the corner kick was spot on as Newcastle’s defence missed Paul Sharner on the far end of the goal. However, the ex-Wigan
man was inaccurate with his volley as the ball sailed past the Newcastle goal and into the stands. Nonetheless it was a fine move by the men in white and black who did all they could to pressurize their opponents.
In the 13th minute, Newcastle’s right back Simpson was caught unawares as he was outpaced by West Bromwich’s winger Thompson. The Englishman turned on the after burners to go past the ex-Manchester United full back but in the end his good work
came to nothing as the cross that he delivered into the box was cleared away by Campbell.
Newcastle’s main man in their midfield area was Tiote. The ex-Twente player was the first one to every loose ball in the centre of the park but his good work did little more than keeping the opposition at bay as Newcastle lacked the creative edge that was
needed to hold onto possession. By the 20th minute of the encounter, Newcastle were looking good money for the first goal as they played their way back into the match. However, in the 19th minute it was Jonas Gutierrez who was cautioned
by the referee as he pulled Thomas to the ground.
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