2 things I liked (and 2 I didn’t) from Newcastle’s 3-1 win at Burnley

Newcastle United beat Burnley 3-1 on Tuesday evening to secure only a second win away from home (in the league) this season.

It wasn’t pretty as United made hard work of a side who haven’t won since 26^th October, but there are no pictures on a scoreboard (as the old saying goes) and it was a vital win on an evening when results trended positively for the club.

The goals came via Joelinton, Yoane Wissa (his first league goal on his first league start) and Bruno Guimaraes, with Laurent notching for Burnley.

Here are 2 things I liked (and 2 I didn’t) from last night’s game at Turf Moor.

Liked: Another elusive away win…at last

For seven scintillating minutes (and yes, that’s only half a joke) United looked much more like our old selves as the lads came out quickly, hunted in packs and put themselves into a commanding position by being two up inside the opening ten minutes.

Big Joe (who was very good on his return) and Wissa both took their goals well, with Wissa’s coming from the sort of old-fashioned penalty box scrap that we’ve shied away from at times this season, and there seemed to be improved focus and quality from the side early on, with our fast start proving pivotal in the end.

Whether that was down to Burnley’s deficiencies or our quality is a debating point but whichever side you come down on, when Bruno coolly dispatched a late third via an unlucky Martin Dubravka, the collective sigh of relief at securing only a second away win of the season could be heard from Tyneside to Thailand.

The game was simply a must win after better performances against the likes of Chelsea went criminally under-rewarded and the surrender at Man Utd, and with four home games in a row upcoming there is a chance to build on this now.

Disliked: Making such heavy weather of it

For all the positivity of the result (and results generally going our way before the round of games in completed on New Year’s Day) United made hard work of a Burnley side who haven’t won in their last ten games and have only picked up two points in that time.

At times it appeared as if Burnley either wanted it more or had better quality in moments or controlled the game better than Newcastle did with the midfield three losing possession 40 times between them, Burnley were able to maintain pressure in a way we just weren’t able to beyond the opening exchanges.

The second half was almost a non-event from a United point of view as Burnley made most of the running and they probably would’ve scored a second if they had had a better striker on the pitch or just a bit more quality.

Liked: Yoane Wissa’s second “debut” goal

Whilst the stand out bit of quality came from Bruno’s late long range deft effort, Yoane Wissa’s first league goal in his first league start could be a huge catalyst for the team, as we could be about to enter a phase of the season where we have two very different strikers who can score goals, and be rotated in and out of the side, allowing us to offer a diverse threat and keep players fresh.

Wissa has now grabbed two scruffy goals for the club and with is undoubted ability to add better quality strikes to his catalogue, you would expect him to offer a more “Isak-light” angle to our attacking play going forward.

I would still like to see Woltemade and Wissa play together eventually and whether that’s something we’ll see after they’ve trained together more moving forward is yet to be seen, throw in some (hopefully) January reinforcements as United will need to improve rapidly away from home as we still have to go to Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, and Liverpool in the second half of the season.

Disliked: What’s up with Tonali? 

For much of 2025, Sandro Tonali has looked like one of the top holding midfielders in world football.

Last night, however, Burnley played through him with ease. Where he is usually shoving his man off the ball, covering every blade of grass and putting out fires constantly, he looked way off the pace in this one, both physically and (at times) technically.

Howe has mentioned that he’s struggled over the past month or two with a mixture of injury and illness. While that may explain some of it, we need the Italian back to his best soon, not just for ball retention purposes, but to ensure our back four isn’t able to be got at as easily as it was last night.

Baby steps then for Newcastle then, who finally won away from home again, and with seven out of nine games at SJP in January there is a chance for the team to go on a run and secure progression in three separate competitions. It promises to be a huge month.

Keep the faith. HWTL