3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Newcastle 2 Burnley 1

Saturday’s match ended Newcastle 2 Burnley 1.

Ahead of each match we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives following the game.

Plenty to talk about after this one!

On this occasion it is ‘Matt Busby said to Joe Harvey…’:

POSITIVES

A win’s a win

Make no mistake, that was a three massive points. Mission accomplished.

Bruno scored an audacious goal straight from a corner to edge us in front and Tony Gordon showed how good he is at dispatching penalties.

I thought both our wide players did well and Guimaraes was MOTM, again.

Having picked up 10 points from 12, we’re now only three points off the top four this Sunday morning and across our first fifteen games, we’ve got more points on the board than this time last season.

Rotate, Rotate, Rotate

Barnes and Murphy were unused and Tonali played for less than a few minutes, whilst Miley, Hall, Joelinton and Wissa were all rested for at least two thirds of the game.

When the team was announced, I thought our midfield looked weaker than at any time this season, but Eddie put his trust in Willock and Ramsey and they didn’t let him down.

We go again on Wednesday before the small matter of the Tyne-Wear derby next Sunday, so we need to keep everyone fresh, and on it.

Return of the Wiss

Well, more like the first ever sighting the lesser spotted Yoane, given the lad hasn’t featured until now.

I reckon the biggest cheer of the day was when our summer acquisition from Brentford entered the fray.

It’s been a long time coming and whilst he didn’t see much of the ball, his movement looked decent and big Nick was given a well earned rest.

NEGATIVES

We missed a golden opportunity to improve our GD

Being able to rotate and win is a huge positive, though the manner of the win perhaps left a lot to be desired.

Leading 2-0 with their left back having received his marching orders, we all thought this presented a wonderful opportunity to improve our goal difference.

That didn’t happen, in fact the pedants will say we lost the second half 1-0.

Disjointed Performance?

At times we looked sluggish, we surrendered possession too easily and in the first half especially, invited pressure on too many occasions from a side that is in the bottom three for a reason.

That led to a flurry of corners at the Gallowgate End which saw Ramsdale flapping and a few nervy moments.

Second half we tried to walk the ball into the net, when what we needed was a few more direct efforts like that one from Tony Gordon, a piledriver that careered of the Gallowgate crossbar.

Ohhh Martin Dubravka

I’m going to divide opinion here for sure, but when the crowd was as lacklustre as the players, it really boiled my Yoane Wiss when the Gallowgate End serenaded one of Burnley’s players, twice winner of the League Cup during his time at NUFC, even though we’ve only won it once in our history.

There, I’ve got it off my chest (and not for the first time)!

You have read what Matt’s positives and negatives were against Burnley, please use the comments section below to give your positives and negatives from what you watched.

Newcastle 2 Burnley 1 – Saturday 6 December 2025 3pm

Match Stats

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Bruno 31, Gordon 45+8 pen

Burnley:

Pires red card 43, Flemming 90+4 pen

Possession was Newcastle 69% Burnley 31%

Total shots were Newcastle 17 Burnley 9

Shots on target were Newcastle 7 Burnley 3

Corners were Newcastle 9 Burnley 9

Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 25 Burnley 19

Newcastle team v Burnley:

Ramsdale, Livarmento, Thiaw, Schar, Burn (Hall 63), Willock (Miley 63), Bruno, Ramsey (Tonali 96), Gordon (Joelinton 74), Elanga, Woltemade (Wissa 74)

Unused subs:

Ruddy, Barnes, Alex Murphy, Jacob Murphy