Eddie Howe takes exception to suggestions that his latterly stumbling side have been “running on empty”, instead maintaining “our tank is full”.
In recent weeks Newcastle’s manager has looked a man in denial but here his players had little need to drain their energy reserves in the course of a tie which served as a cruel example of the gulf between the Premier League and the Championship.
Long before the final whistle blew on this first Tyne-Wear derby in eight years and the visitors celebrated a first win against Sunderland since 2011, it was abundantly clear that there was no danger of Howe following in the footsteps of his predecessors Ruud Gullit and Alan Pardew. That pair left the Tyneside club after damaging derby defeats but on Saturday Newcastle ended the afternoon smiling broadly for the traditional post-match squad and staff photograph that has followed every one of their victories under Howe. The only difference here was it took place on the pitch in front of their exultant 6,000 travelling fans rather than in the privacy of the dressing room.
That could be interpreted as a deliberately performative show of unity after a run of seven defeats in the previous eight games but, for the moment at least, it has certainly succeeded in silencing the doubters.
Patience is not normally a word associated with Howe’s Newcastle but, perhaps chastened by recent setbacks, the visitors modified their hallmark high, hard and often slightly gung ho press to impressive effect. Instead they preferred to dominate possession, often passing sideways and backwards as they bided their time and waited for the Championship’s youngest team to make an inevitable mistake.
For all their undoubted talent and extreme promise, Michael Beale’s playoff-chasing Sunderland can be error prone and, right from kick-off, a visiting breakthrough seemed merely a matter of time. Accordingly, it is to Sunderland’s tactical credit that 35 minutes passed before Dan Ballard’s own goal began relaxing the frown lines that have recently furrowed Howe’s forehead.
Ballard generally defended with intelligence and resilience but, when the struggling Trai Hume erred and Joelinton whipped a cross in from the left, the defender turned the ball into his own net as he desperately attempted to prevent it reaching Alexander Isak.
Previously in a scrappy, niggle-punctuated encounter, Sunderland’s Anthony Patterson had made a smart early save to keep Sean Longstaff’s header out before watching a six-yard shot from the same midfielder swerve off target.
Newcastle were nowhere near their best but remained far too strong and streetwise to be unduly troubled. Tellingly, Martin Dubravka was not required to make a single significant save during an opening 45 minutes so low on Sunderland attacking highlights that Pierre Ekwah’s blocked shot was the closest they came to scoring.
With the outstanding Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton controlling midfield, and Kieran Trippier apparently regaining recently shattered confidence by the minute, it was turning into a gentle warm-up for Manchester City’s visit to St James’ Park on Saturday. That sense was only accelerated once Ekwah suffered a concentration outage 32 seconds into the second half, allowing Isak to polish off Miguel Almirón’s rolled cutback courtesy of a straightforward tap-in.
It emphasised the risks of Sunderland’s philosophy of playing out from the back at every opportunity. It is admittedly easy on the eye but hindsight suggests Patterson might have been better launching a long goal-kick. The problem was that Ekwah’s mind apparently wandered as he lingered on the ball in his own box, with that daydream ending abruptly when Almirón pickpocketed possession, leaving Patterson stranded.
Ekwah’s almost immediate attempt at atonement prompted Dubravka’s first real involvement when the Slovakian goalkeeper saved his heavily deflected shot with an outstretched foot.
Howe’s sole concern was the injury that forced Joelinton’s half-time withdrawal. A thorough review of the club’s medical and sports science protocols allied to changes in the physiotherapy department underline Newcastle’s concern at their extensive casualty list but, mentally, this was very much a thoroughly restorative, psychologically healing, sort of day.
Howe seems slightly reluctant to fully involve his club’s new psychologist, Dr Ian Mitchell, with the first team. Yet such was the gulf in quality, that, bar a few moments of unnecessary off-the-ball aggression, most notably involving Anthony Gordon and Hume, Mitchell would almost have been almost redundant here.
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Sunderland’s Alex Pritchard did graze the bar and forced Dubravka into a fine save but Guimarães and co remained firmly in control.
Howe looked unusually nervous last week but, after Isak scored the 90th-minute third from the penalty spot after Ballard’s foul on Gordon, he exuded the glow of a man fresh from a week’s holiday in the sun.
