Nothing For Two Years - Two Buses Come Together!

Last updated : 01 December 2013 By Footy Mad - Editor

Newcastle took the lead nine minutes before the break from a corner, when keeper Boaz Myhill punched Yohan Cabaye's cross straight up into the air and Yoan Gouffran reacted first to head the rebound into the empty net.

But the visitors were level within eight minutes of the restart when Chris Brunt picked up possession beyond the far post and smashed the ball past Tim Krul and in off the underside of the bar.

It took a strike of equal, if not better, quality to win the game four minutes later when Moussa Sissoko rifled a 27-yard effort high into the top corner to claim the points.

Gouffran and Sissoko's respective contributions mean 18 of Newcastle's last 19 league goals have been scored by Frenchmen, a statistic bettered in Europe's five biggest leagues only by Lyon.

Alan Pardew: "There's a good chance I could win French Manager of the Year. It's something I have got my eye on.

"A lot of offensive players happen to be French, so that would fit in with them scoring most of the goals.

"When they arrived in January, certainly the four who are prominent at the moment - Yoan Gouffran, Moussa Sissoko, Mathieu Debuchy and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - there were question marks about their commitment, their mental strength for this division and their physical strength, and they did struggle a little bit.

"But they have overcome that now, and Yohan's interview this week was very, very good when he said that the France national side is benefiting from his new capability of coping with the energy in this division.

"In Ligue 1 in France, it isn't as high-impact and as high-energy as the Premier League. These guys are benefiting from it and I can understand why the French manager is looking at our players, because they are playing at a higher level, there's no doubt about that."