Newcastle 2-0 Burnley: Fabian Schar and Sean Longstaff secure win

Fabian Schar's superb strike and Sean Longstaff's first Premier League goal saw Newcastle beat Burnley 2-0 and move seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Schar fired in a stunning long-range goal in the 24th minute to put Newcastle ahead at St James' Park.

Academy graduate Longstaff made it 2-0 in the 38th minute and Newcastle held on to move up into 13th place and boost their chances of survival.

• Longstaff: Newcastle's new star

Burnley slip down to 15th, still six points above the relegation zone, having produced a below-par display in their bid to extend their unbeaten league run to nine matches.

The Clarets created few clear opportunities against an improving Newcastle, who have won their last four home games in a row to pull away from the bottom three.

Newcastle started confidently and took the lead in the 24th minute when Schar fired in a superb shot from distance that hit the inside of the post and flew into the net.

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Burnley almost responded quickly as Chris Wood saw a volley saved by Martin Dubravka.

But the Clarets were otherwise second best and they fell further behind when Matt Ritchie's cross fell to Longstaff and he fired in a low shot to score his first Premier League goal.

Burnley had penalty appeals waved away when Ritchie appeared to catch Johann Berg Gudmundsson, before James Tarkowski missed a glorious chance when he volleyed over the bar from six yards out in injury-time.

Tarkowski again threatened at the start of the second half when he headed over the bar from a corner.

Newcastle's club-record signing Miguel Almiron, who produced another encouraging showing, was denied by Tom Heaton at the near post, but chances were few and far between at both ends.

Burnley did press late in the game but the closest they came was when substitute Matej Vydra failed to turn in from a corner.

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• No side has picked up more Premier League points at home in 2019 so far than Newcastle United's 12 (P5 W4 D0 L1), with only Arsenal and Manchester City matching their tally on home soil.
• Newcastle have won four consecutive home league games for the first time since last April; they had won just two of their opening 11 home league games of this season prior to this streak (D1 L8).
• This was the first time Burnley have lost a Premier League game with Tom Heaton in goal since August 2017 against West Brom (0-1), ending a 10-game unbeaten streak for the goalkeeper in the competition.
• Newcastle have done a league double over Burnley for the first time since the 1954-55 top-flight campaign; they had won just two of their previous 11 league games against the Clarets before this season (D4 L5).
• Only Fulham (13) have lost more away games in all competitions amongst Premier League clubs this season than Burnley (11).
• Fabian Schär's goal was Newcastle's first to be scored from outside the box in this season's Premier league from their 121st such attempt from outside the area in 2018-19, with Ayoze Perez the last player to score from outside the penalty area for the Magpies in the competition in April 2018 against Leicester City.
• Aged 21 years and 119 days, Sean Longstaff is the youngest player to score for Newcastle in the Premier League since Rolando Aarons netted aged 20 years and 181 days against Spurs in May 2016.
• Newcastle scored with both of their two shots on target in the first half of this match.

Man of the match - Fabian Schar

Longstaff was excellent and Dubravka produced a solid performance, but Schar takes the honours. Not only did he score a brilliant goal to give Newcastle the lead but he was strong in defence and played some good passes to get his side out.

What's next?

Newcastle travel to West Ham on Saturday, live on Sky Sports at 5.30pm, before a home game against Everton on Saturday, March 9.

Burnley host Crystal Palace on Saturday and then go to Liverpool on March 10.

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