Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
St James' Park, NewcastleAttendance45,453.
Report and highlights as Almiron's match-winning strike ends a run of 2,191 minutes without a goal for Paraguay international
Tuesday 24 December 2019 11:14, UK
Miguel Almiron ended a run of 26 games without a goal to finally break his Newcastle United goal drought and hand Steve Bruce's side a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at St James' Park.
With the game appearing to be heading for a stalemate, Almiron (83) picked an ideal time to open his account and score his first Premier League goal for the club, driving the ball past Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita after latching on to Andy Carroll's knockdown.
The goal lifted the roof off St James' Park and ended a run of 2,191 minutes without a goal for the Paraguay international, who joined Newcastle for a then-club-record £21m from MLS side Atlanta United in January.
The victory sees Newcastle extend their unbeaten run at home to eight games and move above Palace up to ninth in the Premier League table, while Roy Hodgson's side drop to 12th after suffering their first defeat in four Premier League games.
Newcastle created an early opening when Almiron slid an inch-perfect pass through for Isaac Hayden, but, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, the midfielder slipped at the crucial moment and the chance disappeared.
Almiron might have broken his duck earlier with a curling effort, but Guaita was alert to the danger, diving to his left to keep out the goalbound strike.
Meanwhile, Palace had started to grow into the game and Christian Benteke glanced a header well wide from Patrick van Aanholt's cross in the 27th minute.
It was not until the 40th minute that the game's first real clear-cut opportunity was created, and it fell to the visitors. Benteke's pass released Wilfried Zaha, but the Ivory Coast international's shot was well saved by Martin Dubravka.
Luka Milivojevic then had Dubravka scrambling across goal, but the Newcastle goalkeeper was relieved to see the Palace skipper's free-kick fly wide of the upright as the teams went in at the break level.
Dubravka once again came to Newcastle's aid in the second half as he denied James McArthur after he had been played in by Van Aanholt, and the Palace midfielder then sliced a 57th-minute effort wide of the target.
Palace were sensing the opportunity to take all three points and they almost broke the deadlock with 16 minutes remaining when Benteke's powerful strike was blocked by Dubravka.
However, with seven minutes left to play it was Newcastle who snatched victory when Carroll's header back across goal fell to Almiron, who blasted home to spark wild celebrations from the home side.
Manager Steve Bruce, who had repeatedly backed the striker during his barren run, also celebrated wildly on the touchline as a crowd of 45,453 acclaimed their South American match-winner.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce on Almiron's goal: "I nearly did a Jose Mourinho. Even I got carried away.
"I'm delighted. I think everybody who has seen him play and watched him now over 12 months - I've only had the privilege to work with him for four, five, whatever it is, and I think we're all delighted because he's a good player, great pro, great lad, very, very popular. You want people like that to succeed and thankfully, he's got it off his back which is good to see.
"My mates told me last January when he came in that he lit the place up, that he gave a sparkle to the place, and I can see why. Of course along the way, he needs to score a goal and thankfully today, he's done it."
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson: "I was rather hoping we'd even win it, let alone lose it. Our second-half performance followed on from a good first half. We had a lot of the ball and created a lot of goal chances.
"But you've got to take your goal chances and we didn't. As a result, of course, as the game goes on, there's always that risk that a cross will come in and Andy will out-jump whoever is marking him and, if you're unlucky, the ball will fall very kindly for one of the other players. But that's football."
What a huge afternoon for Almiron and Newcastle!
With every game that passed more and more was made of the Paraguayan's goal drought, but Bruce was unwavering in his backing for the player he inherited from predecessor Rafael Benitez, and that backing was rewarded with a magical moment at St James' Park.
Almiron's big moment came seven minutes from time when he fired home from close range after Carroll had headed down Fabian Schar's cross, and the booking he received for removing his shirt as his emotions took over will hardly have registered.
The goal capped an impressive afternoon for the £21m man, but can he kick on from here? Bruce and the Newcastle fans will be hoping so.
Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff on Almiron's first goal for Newcastle: "Everybody's buzzing in the changing room and everyone is over the moon for Miggy to get off the mark. There's been a lot of people from the outside getting on him but we have always believed in him in the changing room and we know how important he is to us.
"Everyone is delighted with the three points and it does make it better that Miggy has scored the winning goal!
"I was over the moon for him! It was such a massive goal after we were under the cosh a little bit in the second half. When he does that, it made a huge difference for us and we know how important he is for our team and what people on the outside don't see. He deserved his goal after working so hard every single week."
Newcastle face a trip to Old Trafford to play Manchester United on Boxing Day (5.30pm).
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace host West Ham at Selhurst Park at 3pm on the same afternoon.
