Newcastle United 2-1 Hull City: result and report

Report

Newcastle United won 2-1, but the scoreline makes their afternoon look more comfortable than it was. Two goals inside the first seven minutes decided the match, while Hull City finished with the better xG and kept asking questions until the end.

How the goals came

Joe Willock scored after three minutes and Lewis Hall added a second four minutes later. Harvey Barnes set up both goals. That fast start proved decisive because Newcastle United did not score again.

Mohamed-Ali Cho then pulled one back for Hull City on 67 minutes from Mohamed Belloumi's assist. That left the visitors needing only one more goal over the final stretch, though it never came.

Hull City: more threat than the score suggests

Hull City carried more attacking threat than the result suggests. They produced 1.74 xG to Newcastle United's 1.43 despite taking fewer shots, eight to ten. They also made 15 key passes to nine and had 52 dangerous attacks to 33.

Their pressure readings averaged higher across the match too, even though they had only 44% of the ball. Together those numbers point to a side that got into threatening areas more often than the team that won.

Newcastle United: chances they left behind

Still, Newcastle United were not short of openings. They had more shots on target, five to four, and two big chances to Hull City's one, yet they scored from neither. With the missed penalty on top, the home side could have been out of sight before Cho's goal.

Lewis Hall was named player of the match because his early goal, alongside Barnes's two assists, did most of the winning.