Birmingham 2 Newcastle 3 – Match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players

The Mag

·09 de fevereiro de 2025

Birmingham 2 Newcastle 3 – Match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players

We asked Mark Jankowski to give us his match ratings and player comments after Birmingham 2 Newcastle 3.

A match where Birmingham made a dream start.

Vídeos OneFootball

Taking the lead in less than a minute as Newcastle United poorly defended a set-piece.

However, great character shown by United, coming back into it and going 2-1 up thanks to Willock and Wilson goals.

The home side produced an equaliser before the break due to a stunning long range strike.

However, Newcastle by far the better team after the break and Willock a class finish to win it with his second goal of the night.

Newcastle United players – Match ratings:

Pope – 7

Very little he could have done with either of the Birmingham goals.

Pope did make some excellent stops when needed and commanded his box well towards the end when Birmingham started slinging long balls up towards wannabe WWE star Lyndon Dykes.

Nick Pope will never inspire much confidence with the ball at his feet but he managed that part of the game well too.

Livramento – 7

Tino switched off on several occasions during the first half, although he seemed much more focused after the break.

He needs to spend a lot more time working on his delivery into the box because it’s miles below his dribbling and running ability.

Krafth – 7

Came in for some rough treatment at times from the Birmingham players but handled himself well.

Krafth also pinged some absolutely delightful diagonal passes at times, showing he can be a good backup for Fabian Schar.

Burn – 6

Not as dominant as he maybe should have been against this standard of opposition but made a few important tackles.

Targett – 6

A poor headed clearance led to Birmingham’s second goal so he gets a slight deduction for that.

Otherwise, he delivered a quietly solid performance.

Miley – 7

It’s hard to believe he’s still only 18.

Miley continues to play like someone with far more experience.

He’s going to be one of our Premier League greats if he continues on this trajectory.

Longstaff – 7

Longstaff is among our most experienced midfielders now and he put that experience to great use in this game.

Longstaff continually put out fires and helped his teammates.

He’s still found wanting in possession at times but put a lovely ball through to Tino to set up a goal.

Bruno – 6

Not our captain’s finest outing.

He showed one or two flashes of his class but never really got a hold of the game like he should have.

Osula – 8

I might be being a little generous but Osula showed he’s got the attributes to be a menace playing off the right.

Birmingham struggled to deal with his power and pace in the first half.

He looked a little less assured playing through the middle in the second half but he continues to show signs of great promise.

Wilson – 7

Looked weary in the second half but the first half showed signs of his superior predatory instincts.

He was the first to react to Osula’s inexplicable miss to put us 2-1 up.

I’ve got everything crossed he can stay fit until the end of the season.

Willock – 9

Two goals and almost one of the assists of the season had Murphy managed to find the net after rounding the Birmingham keeper.

He’s looked short of confidence for a number of weeks, hopefully today has gone some way to building that back up.

SUBS

Tonali – 8

Oozed class the entire time he was on the pitch.

Comentator Guy Mowbray opined that our midfield maestro hadn’t put a foot wrong since stepping on the pitch and he wasn’t wrong.

Schar – 7

Showed his quality when he was called on, following Dan Burn’s untimely withdrawal.

He’s one of our most experienced players and it showed in the way he helped manage the game.

Murphy – 7

Murphy looked to get the ball into the box whenever he could and was probably unfortunate not to have bagged a goal himself.

Through one on one following a worldie of a pass from Joe Willock, his first touch let him down, however Murphy recovered well and rounded the keeper only to see his shot cleared off the line.

Isak – N/A

Not on long enough to rate.

Birmingham 2 Newcastle 3 – Saturday 8 February 2025 5.45pm

(Stats via BBC Sport)

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Willock 21, 82 Wilson 26

Birmingham:

Laird 1, Iwata 40

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Newcastle 63% (63%) Birmingham 37% (37%)

Total shots were Newcastle 16 (7) Birmingham 11 (6)