Newcastle beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park, piling pressure on Pierre Sage

A flat first half at Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace hosted Newcastle United on Sunday, 25 October, in a match that struggled for rhythm from the start. Blustery wind on a chilly afternoon made attacking football difficult, and the first half produced only two shots on target. Palace had the first openings, with Daichi Kamada sliced wide after a run by Dwight McNeil and Jean-Philippe Mateta dragging a shot off target. Both sides were low on confidence and still settling under new managers, which left the stadium quiet well before the interval.

Newcastle take control after the break

Newcastle came out sharper after half-time. William Osula guided Jacob Murphy's cross home in the 47th minute, his first league goal of the season. Five minutes later Joe Willock had an effort ruled out for offside by VAR. Harvey Barnes then struck first time from about 12 yards to Amar Dedic's cross, doubling the lead two minutes before the hour and drawing boos from the home crowd. Lukas Hornicek made two outstanding saves after Palace tested him from distance through Adam Wharton and Dario Osorio. The win was Newcastle's first at Selhurst Park in six years, when Steve Bruce was in charge, and their third top-flight win under Matthias Jaissle.

Pressure builds on Pierre Sage

Sage is four months into a three-year contract and has presided over five defeats in eight Premier League games. Palace were beaten 5-0 at Brighton on 18 October, and Sage survived the fallout from that heavy defeat before this loss. Summer sales have also weakened the squad, with Maxence Lacroix sold to Chelsea and Daniel Muñoz among the departures. Fans booed Sage and his players at Selhurst Park, and Palace have won only two of their eight league games. The pressure on the Frenchman has grown with each home result.

Osula's role and Newcastle's attacking questions

Osula returned from an almost two-month lay-off and touched the ball only five times in the first half, the fewest of either side, none of them inside the Palace box. Analyst Chris Waugh questioned whether Osula can solve Newcastle's attacking problems, noting that his side's non-penalty expected goals total of 7.33 was lower than all but three Premier League sides going into that round of fixtures. Newcastle's offensive plan beyond going long and winning second balls was still not entirely clear, Waugh wrote. Osula's season has seen seven goals in his last 13 Premier League matches, after two in his first 50.