Newcastle played their first action of the summer with a behind-closed-doors win over Carlisle
Jacob Murphy of Newcastle United
Jacob Murphy of Newcastle United
Newcastle United got their pre-season schedule under way with a 4-0 behind-closed-doors victory over Carlisle United at their Benton training ground today.
Both sides fielded different starting XIs in each half to give as many players minutes as possible, with United seeing gametime for the likes of Joelinton, Harvey Barnes, Nick Pope and Sven Botman, along with several academy graduates.
Newcastle head to Celtic next Saturday before a trip to Singapore to take on Premier League rivals Arsenal. When in the Far East, they will travel to South Korea to play Tottenham and a K-League XI.
Eddie Howe's men then end their pre-season with games against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid at St James' Park before the Premier League season gets under way against Aston Villa on Saturday, August 16.
Sean Longstaff opened the scoring in the first half against Carlisle today, with the midfielder the suibject of a £12m bid from Leeds United.
Newcastle won't stand in his way if he decides to leave the club, with the Geordie midfielder set to make a decision on his future soon.
United wrapped up the win in the second half thanks to goals from Joelinton, Jacob Murphy and Ben Parkinson as the Magpies ended a positive first week of pre-season training.
Howe will have been pleased to see the likes of Joelinton, Botman, Lewis Miley and Kieran Trippier come through the early test after they ended last season with injury issues.
There was no appearance for any players who had been involved with international games, with the likes of Sandro Tonali, Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Dan Burn, Brun Guimaraes and Tino Livramento expected to start pre-season next week.
Will Osula featured despite playing for Denmark at the U21 EUROs over the summer, while Jamaal Lascelles continued his comeback by playing the first 45 minutes.
The game also came too soon for new signing Anthony Elanga, with the winger playing for Sweden last month.
He will join up with his new team-mates for the training camp in Austria next week.
Today's line-ups
Newcastle United first half: Pope, Trippier, Lascelles, Murphy, Shahar, Longstaff, Miley, Willock, Sanusi, Neave, Osula
Newcastle United second half: Ruddy, Ashby, Botman, Schar, Targett, Hernes, Joelinton, White, Barnes, Murphy, Parkinson
Carlisle United first half: Breeze, Allan, Ellis, Thomas, Harper, Whelan, Lowes, Luamba, Embleton, Armstrong, Linney
Carlisle United second half: Lewis, Williams, Atkinson, Hayden, Murray, Robson, Ajiboye, Hetherington, Wearne, Scott, O’Donoghue
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