Great December For Newcastle!
It was a good month for Newcastle United as they picked up 16 points out of a possible 21. Their matches were against West Brom, Stoke, Man City, Norwich, Hull, Cardiff and Chelsea. Results below.
League Results
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: Gabby Agbonlahor
Newcastle looked to build on their fantastic 4-0 win against Manchester United as they made the trip down to the Midlands to play West Brom. Things didn't start to well for Newcastle as West Brom center back Jonas Olsson stuck his head on the end of Chris Brunt's corner and headed it past Tim Krul. Then half time came. Newcastle manager Alan Shearer brought new signing Gabby Agbonlahor off of the bench to replace Alessandro Matri. His decision paid off pretty much straight away when Moussa Sissoko played a through ball into the path of Agbonlahor who smashed it to the right of Ben Foster. Agbonlahor scored again when Nicolás Gaitán played a ball into the penalty area and Agbonlahor slid it onto the net, to the left of oncoming keeper Foster. West Brom equalized when Billy Jones scraped the ball through to Gareth McAuley who wrong footed the keeper when he put the ball in at the near post. Agbonlahor netted his hat trick and put Newcastle back into the lead when young Italian left back Davide Santon drilled the ball into the box and Agbonlahor hit it first time into the top corner. Agbonlahor got a fourth goal when Hatem Ben Arfa knocked the ball through to him before he slotted the ball in at the near post. Fabricio Coloccini said that Shearer's half time team talk inspired the team to turn the game around. Attendance: 26,303.
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: Nicolás Gaitán
Newcastle hosted league leaders Stoke at St James's Park as they looked to build on their 4-2 win against West Brom. Jonathan Walters opened the scoring for Stoke when Peter Crouch drew the defense away before playing a through ball to Walters who netted past Tim Krul. Newcastle equalized after half time when Nicolás Gaitán reacted first during a penalty area scramble and smashed the ball past Begovic in the Stoke goal. Newcastle won the game when Gaitán
whipped in a corner which found Italian center back Davide Astori, who tapped it over the grounded Begovic. Attendance: 47,374.
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: Fabricio Coloccini
Newcastle were not given a chance by many football pundits and journalists when they traveled to The Etihad Stadium to play Manchester City. Man City dominated the match heavily but Newcastle shocked the hosts when they finished the match as 2-0 winners. It was a quiet first half with Man City having the most chances but failing to take them. 'Super Sub' Gabby Agbonlahor came on at half time and put Newcastle into the lead with 15 minutes left on the clock when Newcastle won the ball and launched a counter attack as goalkeeper Tim Krul cleared the ball into Man City's half but he only found Vincent Kompany. However Kompany passed the ball straight to Hatem Ben Arfa who knocked a ball through to Agbonlahor. He played a short pass to Alessandro Matri, who passed through. back to Agbonlahor, who had made a run into the penalty area. Agbonlahor smashed it past Joe Hart and put Newcastle 1-0 up. They maintained the 1-0 lead until the 93rd minute when Moussa Sissoko was played through by young Burundian midfieder Bigrimana and he passed the ball into the net. Attendance: 47,405.
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: Moussa Sissoko
After the brilliant away win over Man City, Newcastle were on the road again. This time they visited Carrow Road where they met Norwich. Newcastle took the lead when Hatem Ben Arfa made a long run from his own half before firing the ball through John Ruddy's hands. Moussa Sissoko doubled the scoreline when he got on the end of fellow Frenchman Yoan Gouffran's cross and headed it past John Ruddy. Norwich pulled a goal back after half time when Leroy Fer lofted a ball through to Ricky Van Wolfswinkel who smashed the ball past teenage substitute goalkeeper Joe van der Sar. Newcastle went 3-1 up when Moussa Sissoko got to the ball first during a goal line scramble and blasted the ball in to get his second of the game. Nicolás Gaitán made it 4-1 when he superbly chipped the ball past Ruddy who was off his line. Joe van der Sar made a terrible mistake when he had all the time in the world to pick the ball up. However he threw himself on the ball and fumbled it into the path of Luciano Becchio who slotted it into the open goal past the floored keeper. Attendance: 22,765.
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: Nicolás Gaitán
Newcastle had won all of their matches so far this month and hoped to continue their record when they hosted newly-promoted Hull City. Nicolás Gaitán opened the scoring with a 30 yard free-kick which hit the post before going in. It was a fantastic goal from the 24 year old. After the second half, Gaitán whipped in a corner which Davide Astori got on the end of to make it 2-0. Minutes later, another Gaitán corner found Astori who once again headed home. Young Burundian midfielder Gaël Bigirimana scored his first Newcastle goal when Gaitán played a lovely through ball into him and he fired home comfortably. Nick Proschwitz pulled a goal back for Hull when he volleyed Elmohamady's cross into the bottom corner. Attendance: 45,997/
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: Nicolás Gaitán
The Boxing Day fixture saw Newcastle make a trip to Wales to play Premier League new boys Cardiff. Newcastle took the lead when Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall, under pressure from Alessandro Matri, cleared the ball straight to Nicolás Gaitán who smashed the ball into the open goal from 30 yards out. Cardiff equalized when promising young striker Andreas Cornelius headed home a cross from Andrew Taylor. Attendance: 20,072.
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: Eden Hazard
Newcastle played their last game of 2012 when they hosted Chelsea. Chelsea took the lead when Eden Hazard got on the end of Oscar's cross and headed past Tim Krul. Newcastle equalized just before half time when Davide Santon knocked a nice through ball in to Nicolás Gaitán who poked it past Petr Cech. Polish striker Robert Lewandowski put Chelsea back into the lead just after half time when Eden Hazard played a lovely lofted ball through to him. He took the ball round the keeper before slotting it into the empty net. Chelsea went 3-1 up when experienced English midfielder Frank Lampard took a lovely nod down from Brazilian midfielder Ramires and smashed it into the bottom corner. Newcastle pulled one goal back when Italian striker Alessandro Matri smashed the ball into the bottom corner. Attendance: 52,405.
Monthly Awards
Our Player Of The Month award goes to Nicolás Gaitán who scored five and set up five during Newcastle's impressive month. He was also the runner-up in the Barclays Player Of The Month award.
The Young Player Of The Month award goes to Davide Santon who assisted four goals and had an average rating of 7.20. He was also he runner-up in the Barclays Young Player Of The Month award.
Manager Alan Shearer was selected as the runner-up in the Barclays Manager Of The Month award after leading his team to five wins out of seven.
Join us next month for more results and awards.