Newcastle clinches first win of the season as Ayoze Pérez's head hits Watford | Soccer

Ki Sung-yueng had become an invisible man since arriving in Newcastle last summer, but on Saturday he left the shadows and emerged from the shadows to create a goal that could transform the season. for Ayoze Pérez.

In the 11th attempt, Newcastle had finally won a match in the Premier League. Admittedly, there were long pbadages of play when they were wearing good luck against Watford, but with Federico Fernández excelling in central defense, the afternoon ended on a rare note of Tyneside's optimism. .

Javi Gracia could not be accused of failing to do his homework. Watford coach has watched every minute of the 10 games of Newcastle's No-Win League this season which, even for a well-paid top coach, can be interpreted as going beyond the call of duty.

As a result, Gracia knew that Watford's collective speed and his wonderful change of pace could destabilize the Benítez team. He clearly encouraged his players to use the full width of the field to fight against opponents who often defended the game too deeply and too tightly but who could have been slightly disappointed by the success encountered by Newcastle at least halfway through Gerard Deulofeu. If the former winger of Barcelona remained a major nuisance, he was not allowed to be as destructive as he sometimes could.

Although the visiting official was slightly surprised by the significant improvement in the lively quarters of Kenedy and Yoshinori Muto while Benítez's players were sometimes threatened, he also knew that Watford would surely have taken the lead if Fernández had not enjoyed an afternoon so remarkable in the heart of the defense of the house.

Deployed alongside Jamaal Lascelles – who, fortunately, was not booed by Gallowgate Enders by stating that Mike Ashley was "a kind guy" – Fernández did more than anyone to keep Newcastle together, his presence serving as a form of glory super sticky. glue. When, as he often did, Deulofeu escaped from DeAndre Yedlin, Fernández was invariably the man who blocked his pbadage.

Still, Watford had his chances. The moment Kiko Femenía's astute rear-wheel released Will Hughes's impressive creativity highlighted their talent for the fleet and it did not take long for Hughes to see his shot blocked by the goalkeeper. Meanwhile, an effort by Adrian Mariappa was eliminated and the same player fired on a narrow shot before Martin Dubravka dodged another hit from Isaac Success that had been cleverly intercepted by Deulofeu.

In contrast, Ben Foster was rarely called to take up arms, but reacted strongly to push back Mohamed Diamé's elbow and looked relieved to see Jonjo Shelvey's free-kick go over the bar. With Watford in possession of the ball, Newcastle had to take those risks – and when he had the ball, he had to go faster. Instead, they tended to take too much because they weighed their options and often played too much.

This did not help their cause that, in the 51st minute, they had used the three substitutes after losing Muto, Lascelles and Shelvey, injured. Gracia felt an opportunity and jumped out of frustration after Success left Yedlin on the back and allowed Roberto Pereyra to take the advantage as a result of a nice shot.

Certainly, Kenedy misinterpreted a rare opportunity to invite Foster to test, but the momentum as a whole was rather related to Watford. It was going to take something very special to change the narrative, but Newcastle finally evoked one of those decisive moments that can change not only the games, but sometimes even entire seasons.

When Ki, for Shelvey, received a free kick, Pérez met the player who had delivered the game to Swansea midfielder and gave a header beyond Foster. Ironically, Pérez started the afternoon on the bench after poor performance and was only present on the field because of Muto's injury.

Suddenly, he and Newcastle had rediscovered their contact. Indeed, they looked like a completely different team and would soon have doubled their advantage if Salomón Rondón had not led the gap over a distance of eight meters after joining the center of Kenedy.

Ashley, used to being here these days, manages to smile, but the head of the house remains fragile. A reminder of this happened as success crossed and substitute Andre Gray was sure to score, until Kenedy intervened with a brave and thoughtful tackle. At this point, Matt Ritchie was limping but, against all odds, he and Newcastle were clinging.