Newcastle United vs Norwich City. Premier League.
St James' Park, NewcastleAttendance47,006.
Monday 19 October 2015 09:16, UK
Four goals from Georginio Wijnaldum inspired Newcastle to their first league win of the season after a 6-2 victory against Norwich in a thrilling encounter at St James' Park.
Five first-half shots resulted in five goals, and a huge amount of entertainment. Wijnaldum opened the scoring, before Dieumerci Mbokani brought the Canaries level with a goal on his full league debut.
A Wijnaldum header and an Ayoze Perez strike put the hosts two goals in front, but they shot themselves in the foot again, leaving Nathan Redmond unmarked at the back post to narrow the deficit.
After the break, Norwich threw everything at Steve McClaren's side but, somewhat against the run of play, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a fine fourth, before Wijnaldum completed his hat-trick and netted a thunderous sixth to make sure of the victory.
The result sees Newcastle move up to 18th but, more importantly, they have the momentum going into next week's crucial Wear-Tyne derby clash with arch rivals Sunderland. Norwich drop to 16th.
Newcastle boss McClaren called for a fast start from his side pre-match, and that is exactly what he got after 14 minutes, thanks to Wijnaldum.
Moussa Sissoko was urged to shoot from supporters around the ground, but instead he threaded a delightful through-ball into the path of Wijnaldum, who made no mistake from the angle.
Norwich were not to be deterred, and after Robbie Brady had seen his effort come back off the post, Mbokani got on the end of a Martin Olsson cross to side-foot his first goal for the club on 20 minutes.
The action was relentless, and another inch-perfect cross, this time from the impressive Sissoko, allowed Wijnaldum the chance to get his side back in front on 26 minutes, and he duly obliged, heading past John Ruddy.
Perez looked to have put Newcastle into a comfortable position when he reacted first to his own strike after it had been blocked by Olsson on 33 minutes, getting the ball out of his feet and lashing home.
However, once again, Newcastle didn't make things easy for themselves, as they left Redmond unmarked from another Olsson cross on 35 minutes, after Wijnaldum had failed to track his run, and the England U21 winger calmly volleyed his side back into the game.
After the interval, Norwich upped the ante, and Wijnaldum had to be alert to divert a Sebastien Bassong header off the line, but against the run of the play Newcastle increased their lead on 64 minutes, thanks to a man quickly becoming a fan favourite on Tyneside.
It was Sissoko again who instigated the move, playing a one-two with Perez, before lofting a perfect ball over the top for Mitrovic, who lashed the ball past Ruddy.
There was an air of controversy about Newcastle's fifth, with two home players jumping for a Janmaat cross in front of Ruddy appearing to be in an offside position. However, Wijnaldum arrived in between the two to complete his hat-trick as he headed Newcastle into a 5-2 lead.
Norwich again hit the post after a fizzing Redmond effort beat Rob Elliot in the Newcastle goal, but a stunning Wijnaldum strike completed the rout on 86 minutes, via a slight deflection.
Eight goals is the most we have seen in any Premier League game this season, and in this form, Sunderland will have to be wary of Wijnaldum and his team-mates who will be gunning for more in next week's derby.
Player Ratings
Newcastle: Elliot (6), Janmaat (7), Mbemba (6), Coloccini (5), Dummett (6), Tiote (6), Colback (7), Sissoko (9), Wijnaldum (9), Perez (8), Mitrovic (7).
Subs: Anita (7), Cisse (6), Haidara (6).
Norwich: Ruddy (5), Whittaker (5), Martin (5), Bassong (4), Olsson (7); Redmond (7), Dorrans (5), Tettey (5), Brady (6); Howson (5); Mbokani (7).
Subs: Jerome (6) Hoolahan (6), O'Neil (6).
Man of the Match: Georginio Wijnaldum
