Late Dwight Gayle header seals win for Newcastle against Norwich

Newcastle scored goals at either end of the match to see off West Brom 2-1 at St James' Park.

No sooner had West Brom had kicked off the match, they were behind. A terrible clearance from Ivanovic gifted possession to Callum Wilson, who fed Joelinton. He picked out Miguel Almiron, who blasted the ball into the back of the net after just 20 seconds.

The rest of the half passed largely without incident. Joelinton forced a good save when he elected to shoot rather than tee up Wilson, while Connor Gallagher blasted one wide late on as the visitors looked for a path back into the match.

They found one shortly after the break. Matt Phillips beat his man to put in an inviting cross and Darnell Furlong beat the sluggish Jamal Lewis to volley into the bottom corner.

Newcastle found chances hard to come by but the introduction of Dwight Gayle sparked them into life. The returning striker had already had a header brilliantly cleared off the line by Phillips when his fellow substitute Jacob Murphy picked him out with a fantastic ball into the near post. Gayle did the rest to haunt his former club.

For all of their industry, West Brom failed to craft many more chances following their equaliser and the late goal was a suckerpunch from which they failed to recover.

After West Brom equalised, Newcastle found chances hard to come by. Until the introduction of Gayle, who replaced a full-back in Jamal Lewis, who had had a poor game. Suddenly they were capable of keeping possession once more and creating chances.

It is a criticism constantly levelled at Steve Bruce that he is too conservative but here he took the handbrake off and was duly rewarded. In Wilson, Joelinton, Almiron and Gayle, they have capable attackers and should use them more often.

This was a match of few chances, with West Brom defending sternly to snuff out the hosts but failing to provide much of a threat of their own. But when Dwight Gayle was introduced late on, he was involved instantly, almost scoring with his first touch. Shortly after he got into a decent position but his shot was blocked by Ajayi. His third chance was the charm and he got on the end of a fantastic cross to decide the match in the last 10 minutes.

Newcastle: Darlow 6, Krafth 6, Hayden 6, Clark 6, Lewis 5, Longstaff 6, Shelvey 6, Ritchie 7, Almiron 8, Wilson 7, Joelinton 7. Subs: Gayle 8, Murphy 7, Yedlin N/A

West Brom: Johnstone 6, Ajayi 7, Ivanovic 5, O'Shea 6, Furlong 8, Gallagher 7, Sawyers 6, Phillips 7, Krovinovic 6, Robinson 5, Ahearne-Grant 5. Subs: Gibbs 6, Austin 5, Grosicki N/A

1' GOAL!!!!!! Newcastle have the lead. West Brom kick off but give it away on the right wing. Newcastle go long and Ivanovic's terrible clearance gifts it to Wilson. He gives it to Joelinton, who feeds Almiron and the Paraguayan blasts it into the back of the net.

32' SAVE! A fine ball from Ritchie feeds Joelinton. He turns his man in the box and shoots from a narrow angle but point-blank range. Johnstone makes the save but Wilson was in the box screaming for the cut-back but he went it alone.

43' CHANCE! Best chance of the match for West Brom. Newcastle fail to clear their lines and the ball falls kindly to Gallagher. He shoots but drives it wide. Darlow didn't move - if he had shot either side of him, it would have been an equaliser!

50' GOAL!!!! West Brom are level! Phillips' dummy is fantastic and he gets around his man and puts in a cross towards the far post. Furlong catches Lewis napping and volleys it into the bottom corner. What a finish!

70' OFF THE LINE! Gayle meets a corner and almost scores with his first touch, but Phillips is thee to clear it off the line!

82' GOAL!!!!!!!!!!! Newcastle are back ahead now. Murphy has just come off the bench and he picks out his fellow sub Gayle with a magnificent ball to the near post. Gayle meets it and heads it into the back of the net via the woodwork.