Alan Shearer's Return To The Toon Army

Newcastle picked up points in three out of four of their league games in November. Their league matches were against Swansea, Fulham, Tottenham and Everton. This was their first full month without Ivorian midfielder Cheick Tiote, who is out for the season with damaged cruciate ligaments. They also played in the Capital One Cup semi-final against Manchester United. See the results below.

: Fabricio Coloccini

Newcastle started the month with a trip to Wales where they came up against Swansea. It was a poor game and the match ended 0-0 after neither side could take their chances.
Attendance: 19,365.

: Brede Hangeland

Newcastle played in their second consecutive away game whe they made the trip to London to play Fulham. They will have been disappointed with the final scoreline. Fulham 2-1 Newcastle. Newcastle took the lead after 7 minutes when Fulham defender Amorebieta attempted a back pass to the keeper but he didn't connect with the pass and Yoan Gouffran latched onto it, before placing the ball past the keeper. Fulham equalized when Bryan Ruiz took the ball down the left wing before drilling a low cross into the path of Hugo Rodallega, who tapped it past Tim Krul. Fulham won the game when Riise played a lovely cross over all of the defenders before Dimitar Berbatov planted his head onto the ball and nodded it into the bottom corner. Attendance: 24,114.

: Emanuel Adebayor

Newcastle hosted their first league game of November when Tottenham came to visit. Spurs were in for a shock as Newcastle ran out 4-2 winners. The first goal came after just 45 seconds when Tottenham center back Gary Medel tripped Nicolás Gaitán in the penalty area. Hatem Ben Arfa stepped up and smashed home to put Newcastle into the lead. The lead was doubled when Nicolás Gaitán and Alessandro Matri played a one-two and saw Gaitán go clear of the defense before firing past the keeper. Newcastle went 3-0 up when Massimo Haidara confused the defense after his lofted pass which found Matri, who fired low to Lloris's left. Spurs pulled a goal back when Jermaine Defoe played the ball across the penalty area where Moussa Dembele back-heeled the ball to Emannuel Adebayor. Newcastle restored their three goal margin when Alessandro Matri ran at the keeper before passing it to his right to Gabby Agbonlahor who had the whole goal to aim at and tucked the ball away. The last goal came when Kyle Naughton played a long ball forward which found Adebayor who ran clear of the defenders before smashing the ball in at the near post. Attendance: 42,530.

: Phil Jagielka

Newcastle's last league game in November came against Everton, where the game finished 0-0 at St James's Park. The hosts were visibly frustrated as they heavily dominated the match but failed to take any of their chances. Attendance: 47,810.

Newcastle beat Stoke in the Capital One Cup to set up a tie between themselves and giants Manchester United.

: Nicolás Gaitán

In a result that no-one was expecting, Newcastle United thrashed giants Manchester United 4-0 at St James's Park. Whilst the Manchester United squad was not as strong as it could have been, Newcastle still did brilliantly to beat them. Newcastle took the lead when Yoan Gouffran chipped the ball over two defenders to find Alessandro Matri who volleyed it low past Anders Lindegaard. Newcastle doubled their lead when Davide Santon lofted the ball forward from inside his own half to find substitute Gabby Agbonlahor, who was in on goal with only Lindegaard to beat and he slotted the ball in at the near post. They went 3-0 up when Lindegaard, under pressure from Agbonlahor, cleared the ball straight to Vurnon Anita who played a short pass to Nicolás Gaitán who passed it through to Yoan Gouffran with the outside of his foot, wrong footing two defenders in the process. Gouffran took a touch to bring the ball inside the penalty area before curling the ball across the goal and into the bottom corner. They rounded of the result when Anita passed the ball to Moussa Sissoko who played the ball through to Gaitán. Surrounded by Manchester United defenders, he passed the ball back to Sissoko who smashed the ball past Lindegaard from 28 yards out. Winger Ashley Young was sent off for Manchester United in the 91st minute when he was sent off after picking up a second yellow card.
Attendance: 52,405.

The Player Of The Month award goes to summer signing Alessandro Matri who scored two and set up two for Newcastle this month. He has already proved he is worth the £7.75 million fee that was paid for him as he is Newcastle's top scorer so far with eight goals in the league so far.

The Young Player Of The Month award goes to Davide Santon who carried on his fine form this month with an average rating of 7.40.

1

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.

: 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.

: 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.

: 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.

: 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.

: 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/

: 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.

: 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.

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.

It was a very busy winter transfer window for Newcastle, as they bought ten players for a combined fee of £20.4 million and sold fiver players for a combined fee of around £29 million. As promised in the summer transfer window, football columnist and ex-Newcastle player Mark Viduka will give his overview of all the transfers going in and out of St James's Park ,starting with the departures/

Jonás Gutiérrez, 29, left Newcastle for German side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £10 million.

Viduka: He had an average couple of seasons for Newcastle, but when Alan Shearer took over, the formation changed and there was no room for the Argentinian. Having only played once for Newcastle this season before leaving, I think £10 million is a good bit of business for Newcastle.[/center

1