26. Karl Darlow
8. Vurnon Anita
6. Jamaal Lascelles 60'
2. Ciaran Clark
3. Paul Dummett
30. Christian Atsu 72'
12. Jonjo Shelvey
4. Jack Colback
20. Yoan Gouffran 84'
17. Ayoze Perez
9. Dwight Gayle
Subs
5. Grant Hanley 60'
7. Achraf Lazaar 84'
14. Isaac Hayden
15. Mohamed Diame
22. DeAndre Yedlin 72'
28. Matz Sels
45. Aleksandar Mitrovic
Newcastle United climbed to second in the Championship table as they brushed aside Brentford in a 3-1 victory at St James’ Park.
Dwight Gayle’s double followed an early header from Ciaran Clark, with Scott Hogan claiming a second-half consolation for the Bees.
Today’s double made it five goals in the last three games for Gayle, with the striker more that justifying Newcastle’s decision to spend £10m in order to sign him from Crystal Palace in the summer.
The 25-year-old suffered something of a dry spell as he went more than a month without a goal after scoring the winner at Bristol City, but he looks dangerous every time he gets the ball anywhere close to the penalty area at the moment.
Today’s two goals were classic goalscorers’ strikes, with Gayle finding the corner of the net with a clinical finish in the first half before tapping home Jonjo Shelvey’s low cross in the second.
At the start of the season, it looked as though Gayle would face a fierce battle to claim a place in Newcastle’s team, with Aleksandar Mitrovic and Daryl Murphy also on the books.
But as Murphy looked like an OAP in his one and only start, and Mitro fluffed chance after chance, Gayle is hitting the back of the net.
His form has made him extremely hard to drop though, with Rafael Benitez clearly regarding him as Newcastle’s first-choice striker.