Palace 0-2 Newcastle United: Osula and Barnes sink flat Eagles
Crystal Palace's miserable run continued at Selhurst Park as Newcastle United came away from south London with a comfortable 2-0 win, goals in each half from William Osula and Harvey Barnes doing the damage. The result lifts Newcastle up the table while leaving Palace, who sit 16th, still searching for consistency.
The game was goalless and largely forgettable through the first 45 minutes. The Guardian described it as featuring one of the worst halves of football the Premier League has seen this season, with passing badly below par and only a couple of shots on target between the two sides (The Guardian). Palace will have been content enough to go in level given how little either side threatened.
Newcastle came out the stronger after the break and broke the deadlock in the 47th minute when William Osula finished from close range after being picked out by a Jacob Murphy cross. The visitors doubled their lead just over ten minutes later, in the 58th minute, when Harvey Barnes drilled home from the centre of the box after being teed up by Amar Dedic. Those two moments, as The Guardian noted, were the second-half burst that piled the pressure on a lacklustre Palace side (The Guardian).
Palace tried to find a way back into the contest, introducing Eddie Nketiah and Darío Osorio from the bench shortly after going two behind, but neither side carved out anything further at either end that troubled the scoreline.
Cards were shown fairly freely as the game wore on. Newcastle's Nico González and Fabian Schär were both booked in the first half, while Lewis Hall picked up a yellow in the second. For Palace, Yéremy Pino, Anan Khalaili and Jaydee Canvot were all cautioned as the hosts grew increasingly frustrated.
Statistically it was a game Palace somewhat dominated without reward. The home side had the greater share of possession at 52.6% and had more shots overall, 17 to Newcastle's 10, along with more corners. However, Newcastle were clinical, converting two of their efforts, and their goalkeeper was called upon to make four saves to preserve the clean sheet at the other end, with Palace managing only four shots on target themselves.
The win continues a mixed spell for Newcastle in the Premier League, while Palace's defeat makes it back-to-back losses in the league after last week's heavy reverse at Brighton. The Guardian's coverage summed up the afternoon as a tale of a toothless home performance punished by a sharper Newcastle side once the game opened up after the interval (The Guardian).
Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.