By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor
At the Hawthorns
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Fletcher 78)
Newcastle United 0
Newcastle United suffered a 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion in the Barclays Premier League on Monday.
Darren Fletcher's late header proved enough to separate the sides at the Hawthorns and inflict a second successive single-goal loss on the Magpies in less than 48 hours.
A disjointed first half saw Albion go close through James Morrison and Victor Anichebe while, at the other end, Moussa Sissoko, Georginio Wijnaldum and Ayoze Perez all threatened.
In the second period, Aleksandar Mitrovic had a close-range effort hacked away, and Paul Dummett headed against the bar, with Fabricio Coloccini striking the post from the follow-up.
And United were left to rue those missed chances with 12 minutes remaining as Fletcher rose to power home a header from Claudio Yacob's cross.
Newcastle travel to Arsenal next up in the top flight, on Saturday (3pm kick-off).
With Karl Darlow a late replacement for the unwell Rob Elliot, West Brom looked to instantly test United's goalkeeper, and almost made the breakthrough inside three minutes.
Craig Dawson's deep cross was headed back into the danger zone by Chris Brunt and when Morrison prodded past Darlow, captain Fabricio Coloccini was on hand to hack clear off the goalline.
The hosts were making much of the early running and Anichebe was next to try his luck, turning well inside the area and pulling the trigger but being denied by full-back Paul Dummett's outstanding block.
Darlow was called into action in the tenth minute, first getting a big punch on an inswinging corner, before getting down well to his right to divert Morrison's drive behind for a corner.
Newcastle had been struggling to get a grip on proceedings but soon sparked into life. First, Ayoze Perez's tackle in the middle of the park set up Moussa Sissoko for a counter-attack, with the Frenchman driving half the length of the Hawthorns pitch before a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Gareth McAuley stopped him in his tracks.
And then, Perez was again provider, this time for Wijnaldum, who stung the palms of Boaz Myhill with an angled effort.
On 19 minutes, the Spanish forward took matters into his own hands, cutting in off the left flank and bending a shot narrowly wide of the far post, and that was promptly followed by Mitrovic seeing a smart half-volley deflected over the bar by McAuley.
Just before the half-hour mark United were dealt a blow when Vurnon Anita appeared to suffer a hamstring injury, going down under the challenge of Anichebe. The Dutch midfielder was replaced by Cheick Tiote.
And that seemed to reinvigorate Albion, who dominated the closing stages of the half, launching cross after cross and corner after corner into the penalty area, albeit without ever seriously testing Darlow.
The hosts continued to apply pressure at the start of the second period but it was Newcastle who came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.
Dummett rose highest at the far post to meet Perez's corner but saw his header strike the crossbar, with captain Coloccini unable to scramble home the loose ball, cleverly back-heeling against the base of the upright.
On the hour mark Mitrovic threatened. Dummett's low cross found its way through to the big Serbian in the middle of the area but, under pressure from Jonny Evans, his strike was hacked over the bar by Chris Brunt.
Siem de Jong was introduced for Perez in the 72nd minute as the Magpies looked to increase their attacking threat, but it was the home side who came within inches of scoring soon after.
A corner from the left was met by Anichebe and, through a cluster of bodies, the former Everton man headed down into the turf and saw the ball bounce up and strike the angle of post and bar.
United somehow scrambled clear but in the 78th minute their defensive resistance was finally breached. Claudio Yacob sent a delivery from the right into the area and Fletcher rose unmarked to plant a downward header under the grasp of Darlow.
The Magpies' final throw of the dice saw Florian Thauvin come on in place of Jack Colback, but the Frenchman was unable to inspire the visitors to a share of the spoils, and they ended 2015 with a defeat.
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-1-1): Boaz Myhill; Craig Dawson, Gareth McAuley, Jonas Olsson (Craig Gardner 18), Jonny Evans; Stephane Sessegnon, Darren Fletcher (c), Claudio Yacob, Chris Brunt; James Morrison (Saido Berahino 70); Victor Anichebe (Rickie Lambert 88)
Subs not used: Anders Lindegaard, James Chester, Cristian Gamboa, Callum McManaman
Newcastle United (4-4-2): Karl Darlow; Daryl Janmaat, Chancel Mbemba, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Paul Dummett; Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita (Cheick Tiote 27) Jack Colback (Florian Thauvin 85), Georginio Wijnaldum; Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ayoze Perez (Siem de Jong 72)
Subs not used: Rob Elliot, Kevin Mbabu, Jamaal Lascelles, Yoan Gouffran
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Bookings: West Bromwich Albion - none; Newcastle United - none
