Burnley 1-0 Newcastle Player Ratings: Magnificent Mee

Hendrick celebrates the winner – bbc.co.uk

In an encounter high on defensive diligence but low on attacking chutzpah, Burnley beat Newcastle United 1-0 on Monday night thanks to Jeff Hendrick’s second half goal. Here’s our player ratings from the game.

Burnley

Nick Pope – saved Shelvey’s stinging 17th minute effort that was hit straight at him in a first half that saw him otherwise untested. He wasn’t busy after the break but made two good saves, one from a curling Perez effort just after the break and stayed alert to deny Hayden in injury time. 8

Matthew Lowton – a solid first half performance in which he denied Atsu chances to get in behind. Grew into the game and became central to Burnley’s periods of second half pressure down the right. 7
James Tarkowski – looked quietly effective in the first half and swept up a lot of loose balls after the break. The only blemish in his game was a back-post header from Brady’s free-kick that he directed straight at Elliott. 9
Ben Mee – strong in the air throughout and played some good forward passes too. Not his first impressive season at this level. 10
Stephen Ward – got forward more than Lowton in the first half and frequently overlapped Brady. Swung in a lot of crosses but couldn’t quite get the accuracy right, with so many men in the box. He always showed defensive awareness, tracking one or two of Ritchie’s darts into the box. 6

Jack Cork – covered the wide areas well and helped out Lowton willingly, even if his passing might have been more positive. 6
Steven Defour – there were suggestions last season that the Belgian lacks the discipline to play in a two man midfield, but he showed plenty of it tonight. 7

Johann Berg Gudmundsson – pressed Manquillo effectively but didn’t become a notable attacking outlet until the second half, when he set up Hendrick’s winner. 6
Jeff Hendrick – had a couple of sights at goal in the first five minutes, so it was little surprise that he got Burnley’s late winner. Sometimes tried to press alongside Barnes but at other times he had the intelligence to drop in and help the midfield. 7
Robbie Brady – in the first half he was too keen to cut inside, which restricted the space for him to use his left foot in open play. He nearly caught out Elliott though with a tight-angled dink and was a threat from set pieces. 5

Ashley Barnes – won the odd free-kick but found it hard to make an impact in the box, partly due to the lack of support and partly due to Lejeune’s dominance. Guilty of slowing Burnley’s final third play down at times. 4

Ashley Westwood (on 76) – the fact he was Burnley’s only substitution shows how comfortable they were and how trusting Sean Dyche was of his players. 5

Newcastle United

Rob Elliott – had to worry about the odd awkward cross with Barnes making his presence felt, but his handling was sound and he didn’t have to stop as many shots as he might have expected. Couldn’t do too much about the goal, though his kicking leaves a little to be desired. 4

DeAndre Yedlin – might have done more to cut out the left-sided threat from Ward and Brady. One or two powerful runs after Newcastle went a goal down, which some might have liked to see when the score was all square. 5
Florian Lejeune – dominated Barnes for the most part and was commanding in the air, but lost his positional bearings for the goal and was punished. 8
Jamaal Lascelles – his aerial aggression was key to a roundly commanding performance, but perhaps he was too brave for the goal conceded. He charged out to close down Gudmundsson, thus vacating the central area of the six-yard box to allow Hendrick a tap-in. 7
Javier Manquillo – his reluctance to use his left foot slowed down the tempo of Newcastle’s play in the first half. Looked livelier after the break but might be blamed partially for the goal. 3

Matt Ritchie – could have closed down Ward more aggressively at times and was in and out of the game. Didn’t show enough quality on the ball when he was involved. 3
Jonjo Shelvey – when Newcastle got him on the ball, he played some effective forward passes, but the tight nature of the contest meant he couldn’t always influence proceedings. 7
Mohamed Diame – worked harder than has been known and recovered his defensive position well. His use of the ball could have been better, sometimes guilty of forcing play rather than waiting patiently for the right moments. Toon also missed Mikel Merino’s technical proficiency alongside Shelvey. 6
Christian Atsu – lively enough, without the most convincing end product, which sums up his time on Tyneside to date. Laid the ball off for Shelvey’s shot in the first half. 4

Ayoze Perez – could have pressed with more vigour but found life hard due to the lack of space in central areas. Forced a good save from Pope with his curling effort two minutes into the second half. 3
Joselu – wasn’t helped by the lack of support, but his inability to keep hold of the ball meant Newcastle didn’t find opportunities to get further up the pitch. A tidy lay-off for Perez’s effort and a decent shot late on from just outside the box that fizzed narrowly wide, but more was expected from him. 4

Isaac Hayden (on 76) – his low drive needed a good stop from Pope in injury-time. 6
Jacob Murphy (on 79) – injected some pace into Newcastle’s play down the right, helped by Yedlin’s increased freedom. 6
Dwight Gayle (on 83) – he’s a natural goalscorer and arguably should have been brought on earlier – even before Burnley’s goal. 5