Bruno Guimaraes once again proved Newcastle United's talisman as his header and a Malick Thiaw strike secured a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at a tense, freezing St James' Park. After an attritional encounter in which both sides had chances and Newcastle had two goals ruled out, the game was ultimately decided by two poorly defended set-pieces, lifting Eddie Howe's side above Palace and into ninth place.
Howe had labelled January a "season-defining" month and warned his team they "won't get another chance" to kick-start their league campaign. For a long time, though, it looked as if they might stumble at the first hurdle. Anthony Gordon and Joelinton both saw first-half efforts chalked off for offside, while Will Hughes spurned a golden opportunity for Palace and debutant Brennan Johnson forced one of the few saves Nick Pope had to make. Only when Guimaraes headed home with 19 minutes left, before his corner led to Thiaw's clincher, did Newcastle finally take control against opponents whose winless run now stretches to seven games as they slide down to 14th.
Disallowed goals and missed chances set uneasy tone
Newcastle began on the front foot and might have been in front inside three minutes. Sandro Tonali and Joelinton combined smartly to release Gordon down the left, and when the winger cut inside Marc Guehi and squared for Yoane Wissa, St James' Park expected the net to bulge. Instead, Wissa fired his first-time effort straight at Dean Henderson, who spread himself to make the save. The Palace goalkeeper was busy again on 17 minutes, reacting superbly to tip Fabian Schar's header over the bar after initially punching Wissa's cross straight to Lewis Hall.