By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter
At St. James' Park
Newcastle United 3 (Lascelles 40, Sissoko 82, Townsend 89)
Swansea City 0
Goals from Jamaal Lascelles, Moussa Sissoko and Andros Townsend gave Newcastle United a vital Barclays Premier League victory over Swansea City at St. James' Park on Saturday.
Twenty-two-year-old Lascelles bundled Townsend's corner past Lukasz Fabianski late in the first half to give Rafa Benitez's men the lead.
And stand-in skipper Sissoko's first goal of the season and Townsend's last-gasp clincher ensured United ended their seven-match winless run, gave boss Benitez a welcome 56th birthday present and boosted their hopes of survival with five games now remaining.
Benitez made five changes to his starting 11 from last weekend's defeat at Southampton, with Paul Dummett, Jack Colback, Lascelles, Cheick Tiote and Papiss Cisse all coming into the side.
And the Magpies started with intent. After Cisse had sent a speculative effort over the bar, visiting goalkeeper Fabianski was called into action after nine minutes, tipping Vurnon Anita's dangerous cross away from goal. Cisse, though, couldn't quite manage to readjust and turn the loose ball goalwards.
Winger Townsend, scorer of a fine individual goal at St. Mary's last weekend, then tried his luck after cutting in from the left, but his strike was held by the Polish stopper.
Much of United's early threat came from the right flank, where Townsend was combining well with the overlapping Anita. Another attack from that side resulted in a shooting opportunity for Sissoko, but his left-footed shot flew over.
The Swans' chief threat Gylfi Sigurdsson - scorer of the winner against Chelsea in his team's last outing - was limited to just one sight of goal in the first half. He lined up a 25-yard free kick, but the set piece specialist slipped as he was about to strike at goal, bringing cheers from the Magpies faithful.
But Benitez's side retained the impetus, and managed to carve out a chance for the returning Colback just after the half hour. Dummett's lofted pass down the line was cleverly flicked on by Cisse, giving the 26-year-old midfielder - back in the side after a two-match ban - a sight of goal, but his low shot was comfortably saved by Fabianski.
Icelandic international Sigurdsson then failed to turn Alberto Paloschi's cross past Karl Darlow on a rare venture into the United box, but still the hosts looked the more likely to break the deadlock. Another Townsend strike, this time with his unfavoured right foot, kept Fabianski busy.
And the deserved opener arrived five minutes before the break, when centre back Lascelles forced home Townsend's corner from the left from close range to give his side a crucial lead going into half time.
A minute into the second period, a deep, hanging Neil Taylor cross found its way through to the Swans' other full back Angel Rangel, but he couldn't keep his header down as he arrived in the area, but again Newcastle came forward, with Townsend once more the architect.
The former Tottenham Hotspur man's inswinging free kick narrowly evaded Cisse firstly and then goalscorer Lascelles with both players desperately trying to divert it towards goal, but Fabianksi was able to gather.
Colback hooked a shot over the crossbar soon after - again, from a Townsend lay-off - and Cisse blasted wide with the offside flag up following some fine play from Sissoko as the Magpies looked for a second, but they were soon called into action at the other end as Andre Ayew latched on to Rangel's cross. Chancel Mbemba, however, made a vital block just as the Ghanaian pulled the trigger.
The Swans responded with an offensive change, as Guidolin introduced Modou Barrow in place of Leroy Fer, and Bafetimbi Gomis was brought on for Ayew just before captain Ashley Williams flashed a well-struck effort just past St. James' Park debutant Darlow's post.
Former Swan Jonjo Shelvey replaced Tiote as Benitez shuffled his pack with just over 20 minutes to play, but the Swans had begun to find their rhythm. Jefferson Montero, quiet for much of the contest, shot past the post when one-on-one with Darlow, and Gomis blazed over as Guidolin's men enjoyed a spell of dominance.
It was a nervy period for the hosts, for whom Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic were deployed from the bench.
And it was the latter of those changes that helped United recover from that brief spell of City pressure and make the points safe.
Serbian frontman Mitrovic won a corner within seconds on entering the field. From Townsend's ensuing delivery, the 21-year-old nodded goalwards, and when the effort was blocked, Sissoko was there to smash home his first goal of the season from close range.
With just minutes left, Townsend made absolutely sure that the three points were in the bag, as he raced on to a Mitrovic pass and sidefooted past Fabianski to bag his deserved first home goal for the Club, seal the win and send St. James' Park into raptures in the process.
Mitrovic then had the chance to make it four but pulled his shot wide of the post after racing clear, though it mattered little in the end as Newcastle United ran out worthy winners in the first of three crucial games on their own patch this month.
Newcastle United (4-4-1-1): Karl Darlow; Vurnon Anita, Chancel Mbemba, Jamaal Lascelles, Paul Dummett; Jack Colback, Cheick Tiote (Jonjo Shelvey 66), Moussa Sissoko (c), Andros Townsend; Georginio Wijnaldum (Ayoze Perez 73); Papiss Cisse (Aleksandar Mitrovic 80).
Unused substitutes: Freddie Woodman, Siem de Jong, Gabriel Obertan, Rolando Aarons.
Swansea City (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Fabianski, Angel Rangel, Federico Fernandez, Ashley Williams (c), Neil Taylor; Leroy Fer (Modou Barrow 57), Jack Cork; Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jefferson Montero, Andre Ayew (Bafetimbi Gomis 71); Alberto Paloschi (Wayne Routledge 82).
Unused substitutes: Kris Nordfeldt, Jordi Amat, Leon Britton, Kyle Naughton.
Referee: Lee Mason
Bookings: Newcastle United - Chancel Mbemba (22), Vurnon Anita (73); Swansea City - Leroy Fer (10)
