Newcastle inflict Hull's first league defeat since Premier League return

Ciaran Kelly
Football reporter at St James' Park

Newcastle United held off a late fightback from Hull City to end the newly promoted side's unbeaten start to the Premier League season.

Head coach Matthias Jaissle said the injury-hit hosts were "fully committed to showing a clear reaction in front of our fans" following a chastening 4-1 defeat against Leeds United on Monday night.

Newcastle certainly looked eager to make amends as they raced into a 2-0 lead at St James' Park, but it was far from a straightforward afternoon in the end after Hull City substitute Mohamed-Ali Cho pulled one back.

The recalled Joe Willock opened the scoring for Newcastle after just three minutes when Harvey Barnes poked the ball through to the midfielder and he lashed it into the net from inside the box.

Newcastle doubled their advantage in familiar circumstances when they again aggressively won the ball high up the field and Barnes danced past a couple of blue shirts before slipping in Lewis Hall, who unleashed an angled drive into the bottom corner.

The hosts had a chance to further extend their lead after Sorba Thomas tripped Jacob Murphy inside the area, but Hull City goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis guessed correctly to keep out Yoane Wissa's penalty just before half-time.

Spirited Hull pushed for a way back into the game after the break and the composed Cho set up nervy finish with his first goal since his summer move from Nice.

Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek went on to make a flying save to keep out Mohamed Belloumi's stinging effort from distance before Hull City substitute Tim Iroegbunam sent a half-volley over the bar from close range late on.

Newcastle managed to hold out to move up to eighth place in the table, while Hull slipped to seventh following their first league defeat of the campaign.

Newcastle analysis: A tale of two halves

Matthias Jaissle post-match interview: Newcastle United v Hull City

Jaissle had made it clear to his players that they needed to take losing a duel personally following their meek performance against Leeds United. That message got through to his side on Saturday - in the first half, at least.

It was rather telling that Lewis Miley won the ball back high up the field in the build-up to Willock's opener, while Hall also dispossessed a blue shirt before doubling his side's lead just a few minutes later.

No wonder Jaissle was applauding such aggression as he walked down the tunnel at half-time.

However, by full-time, the German let out a relieved roar and clenched both fists following a nail-biting victory.

Jaissle was pleased with the "heart" his side showed to hang on but felt the nervousness inside the stadium after Newcastle repeatedly dropped points from a similar position last season.

"That's maybe somehow a trauma from the past that stuck," he said. "I hope we can change that mindset.

"The players told me already these games maybe would have ended in a different result. We tried to change this narrative, that belief also, and hopefully you can feel that in the next weeks and months that if something goes wrong, we are energised in a positive way and supporting.

"With a young squad, especially, this is really important."

Newcastle will need to find a way to control games moving forward, but a return of eight points from their opening five league matches is a good foundation to build on following a summer of huge change.

Hull City analysis: Signs are good in survival bid

Sergej Jakirovic post-match interview: Newcastle United v Hull City

One or two Hull City players shook their heads almost in disbelief at full-time. They could not believe they had not taken something from this game.

It was a mark of how far Sergej Jakirovic's side have come.

Hull could have gone under after going 2-0 down so early on, but the visitors rallied at half-time following Tzolakis' penalty save.

Hull ended up having a whopping 21 shots and 35 touches in Newcastle's box, but they could not find an equaliser after Cho set up a grandstand finish.

This has still been a mightily impressive start to the season, though, and Jakirovic will have been buoyed by how his team have competed against a range of opponents - Manchester United, Coventry City, Aston Villa, Chelsea and, now, Newcastle.

It already bodes well for their survival hopes.

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