It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was rather fitting that the first goal of the Eddie Howe era was from a corner kick as Jamaal Lascelles headed Newcastle United in front against Brentford. Set-pieces may be one of the less glamorous aspects of the game, but they decide matches and free-kicks and corners are becoming part of Newcastle's identity under Howe and his staff.
According to Opta, Newcastle scored 14 goals from corners and free-kicks last season, which was the seventh best return in the division and a four-goal improvement on the previous campaign. To put that figure into perspective, nearly one in three of the 44 goals Newcastle scored last season came from either a corner or a free-kick.
Although that haul admittedly included the period before Howe arrived, last November, Newcastle's improvements have not gone unnoticed and that threat now dominates opposition analysis meetings at clubs up and down the country. Everton assistant Paul Clement even referred to Newcastle as 'one of the best set-play teams in the country'.
