Newcastle's Tense Victory Over Hull Highlights Flaws
Newcastle United staggered into the international break with three points and a sigh of relief, ending Hull City’s unbeaten start with a tense 2-1 win at St James’ Park that said as much about their flaws as their fight.
For all the pre-season gloom around both clubs, the table tells a different story: the Magpies and the Tigers will spend the break in the top half of the Premier League. It hasn’t happened by accident. It hasn’t been comfortable either.
Lightning start, laboured finish
Newcastle came out as if still smarting from their Gameweek 4 hammering at Elland Road. They tore into Hull, pressed high, and were two up inside seven frantic minutes.
Joe Willock, back sniffing around the box, struck first. Then Lewis Hall, raiding from left-back, rifled in the second. Harvey Barnes supplied both goals, his left foot carving open a shell-shocked Hull defence as he moved to four attacking returns for the 2026/27 campaign.
At that stage, it looked like a rout in the making. Newcastle kept finding space, kept getting into good areas. With cleaner final balls – and with more composure from the spot on the stroke of half-time – the game could have been buried before the interval. Hull managed just three shots in the first 45 minutes.
Then the energy drained away.
The rolling xG chart told the story Newcastle fans could see with their own eyes. The legs went. The press dropped. The duels that were being snapped into early on started to go Hull’s way. A young side that had looked so sharp suddenly looked spent.
“After 50, 60 minutes, the legs were getting tired,” admitted Matthias Jaissle. “We have a young, young squad and they need to adapt to the physicality of that league, so that you can perform like this over 90 minutes plus additional time. So, that will be also the next step for the upcoming weeks and months.”
Hull racked up 19 shots after the break. Newcastle’s expected goals number was inflated by the missed penalty, yet Hull still finished with the better xG. The win was a response to Elland Road, yes, but not a fully convincing one.
Wissa steps up – and is denied
With all three of last season’s penalty takers gone over the summer, the question of who would assume spot-kick duties at Newcastle had lingered. The answer, at least for now, is Yoane Wissa.
His first audition did not go to script.
Wissa’s first-half penalty was not a horror show, but it lacked venom. The xG on target of 0.92 underlined just how savable it was only for an alert Hull goalkeeper, who read it well and turned it away. For Fantasy Premier League managers, it was a painful moment. For Wissa, whose record from the spot now stands at 13 scored from 16, it was a reminder that even reliable takers can blink.
Whether he gets the next one is a live question. Jaissle, though, refused to hang him out to dry.
“He was playing on a high level today. Also sacrificed a lot, worked a lot out of possession for the team, and yeah, missing a penalty, that can happen, but he showed up personality also in the second half,” said the Newcastle boss.
The praise extended to Mathias Fernandez-Pardo, whose work without the ball also caught the eye. That graft doesn’t show up in FPL points, and neither does Wissa’s tendency to drift wide or drop deep to link play.
Even so, he was inches away from a goal in open play. Jacob Murphy flashed a first-half cross just beyond his outstretched boot, then Malick Thiaw inexplicably hammered the ball across the six-yard box when a simple square pass would have left Wissa – and Barnes, lurking again – with a tap-in.
On another day, the narrative around Newcastle’s new penalty taker looks very different.
Injury concerns and a timely pause
Newcastle’s physical issues weren’t limited to fading legs. The injury list grew again before a ball was even kicked.
Tino Livramento became the ninth absentee, ruled out with muscle discomfort after feeling something in training. “He suffered with some discomfort in the morning from yesterday’s training,” Jaissle said. “So, at the moment, we should have also the results already from the MRI but nothing for now from my side.”
During the game, Fernandez-Pardo and midfield anchor Sean Steur both hobbled off, raising fresh alarms. Jaissle tried to play down the severity.
“Hopefully, only fatigue and tired legs again, in part due to our brave approach,” he said.
For a squad already stretched, the international break could hardly be better timed.
Newcastle’s defence turns into DefCon machine
While Newcastle’s fitness is a concern, their defensive work rate is fast becoming a defining feature of this side.
All four members of the backline picked up defensive contribution (DefCon) points, with Lewis Miley filling in at right-back. Thiaw, Hall and Sven Botman have now registered DefCon returns in three of their five games, and Botman’s 59 defensive contributions are the joint-highest among defenders this season.
No team has made more clearances, blocks or interceptions than Newcastle’s 240. They are throwing bodies in front of everything.
For Hall, that blend of defensive volume and attacking threat is gold dust. He surged forward to smash in Newcastle’s second goal, almost connected with a Murphy cross later on, and stayed on corner duty. His numbers are starting to look like those of a full-back built for this modern Premier League – and for fantasy managers.
Hull’s slow start proves costly as Belloumi shines again
Hull left Tyneside with nothing, but there was no sense of a side out of its depth. Once they woke up, they went toe-to-toe and probably did enough to justify a point.
The early damage, though, was fatal. By the time they found their rhythm, Newcastle were clinging on, backs to the wall, but still ahead.
Sergej Jakirovic’s team mounted a late siege, wave after wave of pressure that had St James’ Park on edge. The equaliser never came.
“We showed already 100 times that we will never surrender there,” said Jakirovic. “We have good mentality, good character and we will play till the end. So, unfortunately, just we miss goals.”
The shot count underlined Hull’s intent. The three players with the most attempts in the game all wore Hull colours.
Leading the way again was Mohamed Belloumi. The winger loves a strike from distance, and while most of his efforts came from range, they were anything but speculative – whistling past the post or forcing saves. When Lukas Hornicek spilled a routine ball, Belloumi almost punished him, only for the goalkeeper to recover and smother at close range.
Belloumi did eventually make a tangible impact, sliding a neat assist into the path of substitute Mohamed-Ali Cho. His broader numbers are building an impressive case: fourth among FPL midfielders for points, and double-digit defensive contributions in four of his five starts. He finished on 10 again here, agonisingly short of the 12 needed for another DefCon bonus.
Hull’s pre-season billing as relegation fodder already looks lazy. They walked off beaten, but not broken, and with a winger in Belloumi who is starting to look like one of the finds of the early season.
Newcastle, for their part, head into the break with questions still hanging over their fitness and their penalty taker – but also with a win, a snarling defensive unit, and just enough momentum to keep the doubts at bay. For how long, though, can a young side keep living on that edge?
