Newcastle United answered last Monday’s 4-1 defeat at Leeds with a 2-1 Premier League win over Hull City at St James’ Park, though they spent the closing stages clinging on against a promoted side that refused to fold.
Joe Willock put them ahead in the third minute. John Egan blocked the midfielder’s initial shot but Hull could not clear, and Harvey Barnes picked Willock out to lash the ball beyond Konstantinos Tzolakis. It was only the third goal the £20m Greece goalkeeper has conceded since arriving from Olympiacos in the summer, and it came from a player Jaissle had retrieved from the deep freeze at St James’ Park.
Four minutes later Barnes was the creator again, exchanging passes with Lewis Hall before the left-back, newly recalled to the England squad, swept the crispest of low shots into the bottom corner. That move had begun with Hall dispossessing Oli McBurnie deep inside Newcastle’s own half.
Newcastle’s youthful, injury-hit side was without eight senior players. Tino Livramento, also named in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad on Friday, had seen his chances of joining up recede when a hamstring injury collected in training ruled him out of this match.
Hull, though, sensed the fragility in the home team. Sorba Thomas came within inches of turning in a Matt Crooks cross at the near post, and deep into first-half stoppage time he tripped over his own feet before hauling back the advancing Jacob Murphy by an ankle. Newcastle were awarded a penalty, but Yoane Wissa’s underpowered kick was saved smartly by Tzolakis.
Jaissle’s bench included five academy players, among them the winger Kyran Thompson, a first-year scholar who only left school in the summer. When the manager finally made a change midway through the second half, it was the 34-year-old Fabian Schär who came on for a tiring Sean Steur, prompting a switch to a back three with Schär sweeping, a configuration Jaissle has made abundantly clear is far from his favourite.
Almost immediately Hull scored. With the reshaped defence making a hash of clearing its lines after Lewis Miley, newly relocated from right-back into midfield, was caught in possession, Mohamed Belloumi played in the substitute Mohamed-Ali Cho. The former England youth international, a summer signing from Nice, whipped a left-footed shot past Lukas Hornicek from close range.
From then on Sergej Jakirovic’s side blitzed Hornicek’s box with crosses, corners and shots from all angles. Newcastle were under siege, and their goalkeeper did well to stretch out a foot and somehow divert substitute Robinho Vaz’s half-volley as his team held on for an ultimately morale-boosting victory.