Newcastle played their penultimate game of pre-season in Germany this afternoon and ran out 3-1 winners over Wolfsburg, with goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Christian Atsu and a stunning free-kick from Matt Ritchie capping off an impressive display at the AOK Stadion.
NUFC XI to face Wolfsburg: (4-2-3-1) Elliot, Manquillo, Lejeune, Clark, Dummett, Ritchie, Shelvey (c), Hayden, Atsu, Pérez, Mitrović.
SUBS: Darlow, Gámez, Lascelles, Mbemba, Aarons, Colback, Merino, Murphy, De Jong, Diamé, Gayle.
We were far more lively today, and despite a sluggish start from the Serbian, Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring after some good work from Christian Atsu:
Mitro’s on fire etc 1-0 #nufc pic.twitter.com/6pjisZtAdu
— NUFCfans․com (@nufcfans) August 2, 2017
Atsu then contributed to the second goal, drawing the foul and a dangerously placed free kick. Matt Ritchie stepped up and his superbly struck 20-year effort made it 2-0 minutes before the break:
2-0 Ritchie #NUFC pic.twitter.com/JA0rrVm7U6
— NUFCThreatLevel (@NUFCThreatLevel) August 2, 2017
Into the 2nd half and Wolfsburg were offered a route back into the game, with Paul Dummett conceding a penalty which was converted by the Germans to make it 2-1.
GOAL! Penalty conceded by Paul Dummett. Converted by Mali.
2-1. #NUFC ??⚫️⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/hv3Xy9C2yz
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) August 2, 2017
Newcastle then went 3-1 up with a much deserved goal from the lively Christian Atsu. Javier Manquillo – who was impressive throughout – played a superb through ball to set Shelvey through on goal, who in turn laid it on a plate for the arriving Atsu:
1-3 Atsu #NUFC pic.twitter.com/ZNBdd98UK1
— NUFCThreatLevel (@NUFCThreatLevel) August 2, 2017
Jacob Murphy then provided a promising piece of wing play, beating his man and hanging up a cross for Siem De Jong:
Good play from Murphy who beats his man & sets up De Jong – who's header goes close. #NUFC ⚫️⚪️⚫️?? pic.twitter.com/hsj9XmLpcT
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) August 2, 2017
New-boy Mikel Merino made an instant impression in his 2nd half cameo also, with his timely interception and outside of the foot pass showing exactly why Benitez has brought the Spaniard to Tyneside this summer:
Merino impressive since coming on. Some impeccably timed tackles, clever positioning & this superb pass ??#NUFC ⚫️⚪️pic.twitter.com/xlAsAKJIu7
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) August 2, 2017
Given the standard of the opposition was ramped up a notch, it was undoubtedly our most promising and encouraging performance of pre-season so far.
Javier Manquillo was bright, looking comfortable on the ball, combining well with Matt Ritchie and Atsu was outstanding. He looked full of confidence and was lively all afternoon, bagging two assists and a goal.
There were several promising performances, but a mention must also go to Mikel Merino, who made some sharp tackles, screened the defence well and showed some real quality on the ball with some impeccable passes.
An impressive outing an energetic team display against a strong side – next stop, St. James’ Park against Verona on Sunday!
