Eddie Howe praised “outstanding” Bruno Guimaraes as Newcastle marked a year since their takeover with a crushing win over Brentford.
Guimaraes put Newcastle ahead with a flying header before Jacob Murphy doubled the advantage shortly after following an error from David Raya.
Ivan Toney scored against his old club via a penalty, but Guimaraes netted again less than two minutes after.
Brentford was first to have the ball in the back of the net, Bryan Mbeumo running onto a Shandon Baptiste flick and slamming through Nick Pope’s legs. However Toney was ruled to be interfering with play as he moved out of the way of the ball while offside, and the effort was ruled out by VAR.
Instead, Newcastle took the lead, Kieran Trippier brilliantly curling in a far-post cross from deep after a short corner with Guimaraes heading home.
Newcastle boss Howe, speaking to Match of the Day, said of Guimaraes: “He was outstanding. We really missed him when he was out [as he is] a quality player who helps us in every phase.”
United doubled their lead thanks to a howler from Raya, who passed straight to Callum Wilson. He played square for Murphy to strike past covering defender Ben Mee.
Toney made it 2-1 from the spot after Aaron Hickey headed against Dan Burn’s raised arm, but one minutes and 57 seconds later Guimaraes restored the two-goal advantage as he won the ball from Hickey near the halfway line, drove forward and struck to Raya’s right from 25 yards.
Brentford were their own worst enemies as they were caught playing out from the back again, Pinnock selling Raya short with an under-hit pass that Almiron burst on to and slammed home.
Pinnock was again at fault for number five, sticking a boot out right in front of Raya to deflect a low cross from the left past his own goalkeeper.
Five-star Toon on day of celebration
One year and a day since a Saudi-led consortium took over their club, Newcastle’s fans were in a celebratory mood at St James’ Park. A tifo covered the Gallowgate End before kick-off, based on the takeover announcement and listing the signings made in the past 12 months.
Two of the players signed by the current owners are Trippier and Guimaraes, and both were in the stellar form here. Trippier’s crossing was a constant menace, as he left a timely reminder as to why he may go to the World Cup with England ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Guimaraes was the driving force from midfield for Eddie Howe’s side, his goals ending a run of three successive home draws for the Tynesiders.
Almiron was also excellent – signed during the Mike Ashley era and often maligned, he was an endlessly energetic attacking presence, forcing a great save from Raya after five minutes and carrying on in that form.
He only got one goal last season but is already on four this campaign, and after scoring was presented with a Paraguay flag from the crowd – a sign of the esteem in which he is held by fans.
Of Almiron, Howe said: “It is all about building consistency to his game but he has performed brilliantly off the ball and now he is adding goals to that.”
The return of Allan Saint-Maximin as a late substitute capped a terrific day for Newcastle, the forward has not played since August because of a hamstring injury.
Brentford last won at Newcastle 88 years ago, and aside from a VAR-crushed moment early on never looked likely to end that sequence here.
The goalless draw at Bournemouth last weekend marked their first clean sheet in 20 Premier League away fixtures. With five shipped here, clearly Thomas Frank has issues to solve in defence.
Frank told Match of the Day: “In general I never thought we would concede five goals, we did today. In life and football, it is about how you respond to setbacks.
“If you want to win football matches it is relatively important you don’t make one, two, three, or four mistakes leading to goals. To make four mistakes then you lose football games and basically, that is it.
“We are of course fuming. I can feel my anger bursting around inside me. It is the same as the players and we will bounce back.”
It was also a bad day for Toney, captaining Brentford at the stadium where he made two Premier League substitute appearances for Newcastle in 2015-16, the sum of his top-flight career for the north-east side.
After inadvertently denying his side their opener, Toney did score with his 21st successive converted penalty, early in the second half.
He has been involved in eight of Brentford’s 16 Premier League goals this season, scoring six – but it is at the other end of the field where their major problems lie.
Source – BBC Sport
