Newcastle strikes early to end Hull's unbeaten run
Newcastle United ended Hull City's unbeaten start to the Premier League season, as two quick-fire goals secured a 2-1 home victory at St. James' Park.
Joe Willock and Lewis Hall both hit the back of the net inside the opening seven minutes, immediately helping to put the memories of last week's disappointing loss to Leeds United to rest.
But Yoane Wissa had a spot-kick saved just before the break, helping to set up a nervy ending after Mohamed-Ali Cho scored in the second half, but Hull could not find an equaliser.
It took Newcastle less than three minutes to break the deadlock. Willock's first shot was blocked, but Hull could not clear its lines, and Harvey Barnes was able to recycle it to the 27-year-old, who took a touch before drilling it into the near-bottom corner.
The lead was doubled just four minutes later as Hull's defence was all at sea once again. Barnes drove forward from the halfway line before Hall, one of three Newcastle attackers against two defenders, slotted into the bottom-right corner.
Mohamed Belloumi was handed a golden chance to halve the deficit, with Lukas Hornicek's failed skill gifting him the ball in the box, but the goalkeeper recovered well to hold on to the resulting shot.
Jacob Murphy then fired wide before Hall stretched to blaze one over, and the former then won a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Sorba Thomas got in a tangle with Lewis Miley in the box and went to ground, sticking out an arm to trip Murphy, but Wissa's spot-kick was tipped away by Konstantinos Tzolakis.
Belloumi kept pushing, with two attempts flying over the crossbar, but his 67th-minute throughball into Cho was perfectly weighted as the substitute picked out the bottom-left corner.
Hornicek then pounced to keep out a long-range curler from Belloumi, who was leading the charge for Hull, before Tim Iroegbunam rushed onto a loose ball in the box, only to send his looping effort just over the top-right corner.
Newcaste boss Matthias Jaissle took pride in the win.
"Overall, I'm really satisfied," Jaissle said. "You see a couple of challenges already from the outside, and you also know there is a huge transition period at the moment in the club.
"And in these circumstances, we are really proud of what we have seen so far from the lads, they are fully committed to the journey.
"We showed an incredible reaction, especially after the defeat at Leeds. The first half was excellent, we could have killed the game with a third goal for sure.
"We were totally dominant and then in the second half you saw the legs were getting tired towards the end - but we were also missing nine players today.
"I am really proud and I want to show [the squad] respect for what they did at the end of the game when it was tough. To defend their own box, everyone was committed and really fighting for the three points. This is something we can count on."
Hull's incredible four-match unbeaten start to the season included wins over Manchester United and Coventry City, as well as draws with Aston Villa and Chelsea, but it all ended here.
But head coach Sergej Jakirovic chose to focus on the positives, taking pride in his side's efforts since returning to the top-flight.
"I'm very proud of how we played, especially the second half," he said.
"I'm aware that maybe we lost this game in the first half, in the first ten minutes, because that was not our plan.
"Also with the eight points, I'm very happy, especially with the opponents that we played, but also I want more, always more, which is normal.
"It's about ambition, and like I said, we're looking forward and I hope with some improvement that we can play even better."
