Newcastle claims first victory
Newcastle claimed their first win of the season as Ayoze Perez’s second-half goal handed them victory against a profligate Watford side at St James’ Park, BBC Sport reports.
Perez headed Ki Sung-yueng’s in-swinging free-kick past Ben Foster to end the Magpies’ winless run and lift them out of the relegation zone.
The visitors – aiming to register their fifth straight Premier League win over the Magpies – went closest to scoring in the first half, with Adrian Mariappa and Gerard Deulofeu both guilty of spurning excellent opportunities to put the Hornets ahead.
Mariappa scuffed a shot wide moments after seeing a close-range header hacked off the line, before Deulofeu dragged a tame effort off target following a delightful through-ball from Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Roberto Pereyra rattled the crossbar in the opening minutes of the second half, but Newcastle – who lost Yoshinori Muto, Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey to injury before the hour mark – rallied to earn their first home points of the season.
