Ahead of our much-anticipated game against Liverpool on Monday night, Saturday afternoon’s Premier League action gave Newcastle United fans a lot to smile about.
Former Toon top target James Trafford endured a home debut to forget for Manchester City, as they fell to a 0-2 defeat against Thomas Frank’s Spurs.
Trafford was at fault for the opening goal with his careless passing out from the back, in a performance that certainly wouldn’t have helped his hopes of cementing himself as Pep Guardiola’s No.1.
And the 3pm kickoffs brought even better viewing for us from Turf Moor…
Sunderland fell to their first defeat of their return to the Premier League as fellow promoted side Burnley beat them 2-0.
The Mackems were on cloud nine after their 3-0 win over West Ham on the opening weekend, though their subsequent 1-5 defeat at home to Chelsea definitely makes that win seem different in retrospect.
But the game got off to a bad start for the visitors, as Lyle Foster had the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-0. Fortunately for them however, it was disallowed for a contentious foul by Foster in winning the ball in the first place.
Former Toon cult hero Martin Dubravka was making his home debut for Burnley in between the sticks, and made a vital save to stop Mayenda’s header and keep things 0-0.
But just minutes into the second half, Burnley finally broke the deadlock, with Josh Cullen guiding the ball neatly past Robin Roefs to make it 1-0.
And a bad game got worse for Regis Le Bris’ side, as Jaidon Anthony made it 2-0 just minutes from the end, rounding Roefs to double the hosts’ lead and give them a much-deserved three points at Sunderland’s expense.
Former Magpie captain and Burnley boss Scott Park expressed his delight with the win over Sunderland, as all three promoted teams now have a win under their belts just two weeks into the season.
Speaking on the win and Dubravka’s performance, Parker commented “Delighted really, absolutely buzzing for the players and the fans. We were brilliant today and were everything we needed to be.”
“They missed a big chance early on, it was a great save from Martin \[Dubravka\] and we were worthy of the three points.”