Credit to Burnley but Newcastle United did more than enough to deserve the 3-1 victory

Burnley 1 Newcastle 3 – 30 December 2025 7.30pm

Although less than convincing at times, Newcastle United did more than enough to return to winning ways on Tuesday night, beating Burnley by three goals to one at Turf Moor.

Bruno Guimaraes capitalising on a defensive mix up involving former keeper Martin Dubravka to make absolutely sure of  all three points, in added on time.

That it took until the 93rd minute to make sure of the win has got to be a concern, given the chances Newcastle created, as well as considering that Joelinton and Yoane Wissa had fired the visitors into a two-goal lead during a blistering first seven minutes.

The Brazilian got Newcastle United off the mark with a deft curling effort past Dubravka after Anthony Gordon had turned Kyle Walker inside out. Then Wissa, in his first Premier League start for the club, doubled the advantage, reacting quickest to Walker’s goal line clearance to stab the ball home.

Whilst this seemed an unassailable lead, there is a fragility about Eddie Howe’s side at the moment and considering Burnley’s own frailties, they still managed to halve the deficit by the 23rd minute, Josh Laurent with a sweet volley at the back post following Armando Broja’s neat flick.

Newcastle United might not be firing on all cylinders but had enough about them in what remained of the first half to restore their two-goal advantage. Wissa with a great opportunity headed into the side netting from a Guimaraes corner on 27 minutes, whilst Harvey Barnes was denied in a one-on-one by Dubravka when he should have done better, a miss that could have proved costly had Fabian Schar not cleared the ball off the line moments later, denying the impressive Marcus Edwards whose neat shot had beaten Nick Pope.

After the interval, it was the home side that were in the ascendancy, as the visitors struggled to cope and in a frantic 90 seconds just after the hour mark, that good work in the first forty-five was nearly undone. Nick Pope was forced into making two saves in quick succession, the first with his feet from Edwards before clawing the ball to safety after Lucas Pires’ looping cross come shot. Seconds later, Laurent saw his effort clip the top of the bar as Burnley pressed for the equaliser.

United did at least show some resilience and weathered the storm, emerging to create chances themselves, Thiaw’s header was cleared off the line after another impressive delivery from Guimaraes that the hapless Dubravka didn’t deal with, before the impressive Lewis Hall set up substitute Jacob Murphy, who blazed the ball over when it looked easier to score.

As the clock ticked down, Burnley had ran out of ideas and Guimaraes settled it with a brilliant effort after a calamitous mix up involving former keeper Martin Dubravka and Hjalmar Ekdal, our talismanic captain still with it all to do, planting the ball into the unguarded net with his left foot from thirty-five yards out.

As performances go, this wasn’t vintage Newcastle and Burnley certainly made a game of it, but on balance, it was a deserved three points and with home games against Crystal Palace and Leeds during the week ahead, United are at last looking up the table.

Burnley 1 Newcastle 3 – 30 December 2025 7.30pm

Match Stats

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Joelinton 2, Wissa 7, Bruno 90+3

Burnley:

Laurent 23

Possession was Newcastle 51% Burnley 49%

Total shots were Newcastle 20 Burnley 15

Shots on target were Newcastle 9 Burnley 4

Corners were Newcastle 4 Burnley 3

Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 23 Burnley 28

Newcastle team v Burnley:

Pope, Miley, Thiaw, Schar, Hall, Tonali, Joelinton (Willock 94), Bruno, Barnes (Murphy 72), Gordon (Ramsey 80), Wissa (Woltemade 80)

Unused subs:

Ramsdale, Alex Murphy, Alabi, Shahar, Neave