Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali (left) celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game
Newcastle United moved a step closer to Champions League football after beating Brentford 2-1 on Wednesday
Newcastle United earned a hard-fought 2-1 win over Brentford on Wednesday night to strengthen their position in the Premier League top four race.
Eddie Howe's side enjoyed a dominant first half but struggled to break down a resolute Brentford defence. That was until Alexander Isak popped up just before the halftime whistle was blown with a smart close-range finish.
The Magpies were unable to build on that lead, though, with Thomas Frank's visitors awarded a penalty, converted by Bryan Mbeumo, after Nick Pope fouled Yoane Wissa. Then, moments after Brentford hit the post, Sandro Tonali scored an incredible goal to secure all three points for Howe's men.
Newcastle's win has moved them up to fifth in the table ahead of Chelsea's clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening. Below are the Magpies' next five fixtures as well as those of top four rivals Manchester City and Chelsea...
Newcastle United
April 7 vs Leicester City (A) at 8pm - Premier League
April 13 vs Manchester United (H) at 4.30pm - Premier League
April 16 vs Crystal Palace (H) at 7.30pm - Premier League
April 19 vs Aston Villa (A) at 5.30pm - Premier League
April 26 vs Ipswich Town (H) at 3pm - Premier League
Manchester City
April 6 vs Manchester United (A) at 4.30pm - Premier League
April 12 vs Crystal Palace (H) at 12.30pm - Premier League
April 19 vs Everton (A) at 3pm - Premier League
April 28 vs Aston Villa (H) at 8pm - Premier League
May 2 vs Wolves (H) at 8pm - Premier League
Chelsea
April 3 vs Tottenham (H) at 8pm - Premier League
April 6 vs Brentford (A) at 2pm - Premier League
April 10 vs Legia Warsaw (A) at 5.45pm - Conference League QF
April 13 vs Ipswich Town (H) at 2pm - Premier League
April 17 vs Legia Warsaw (H) at 8pm - Conference League QF
Verdict: Newcastle will like their chances of securing a top four finish. Of their next five fixtures, Aston Villa and possibly Crystal Palace look to be the most challenging.
City, meanwhile, have the hardest run on paper. The Manchester derby this weekend at Old Trafford won't be easy, with Palace, Everton and Villa also tricky games.
As for Chelsea, they may get sidetracked by their European fixtures even if they can heavily rotate their team for those games. Enzo Maresca's side has also been extremely unconvincing domestically so far this year.
Overall, Newcastle should be optimistic of at least going onto finish fifth and securing a likely place in next season's Champions League.
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