Depending on which way you look at it, Newcastle threw away two points or earned one very vital one. Kenedy’s late penalty miss denied them their first win of the season, however, they did well to keep the score at 0-0 despite having ten men for the majority of the second half. Ayoze Perez took to Twitter after the game to enforce the team spirit that the squad currently have.
It was not our best day but we are a team! We celebrate together and we suffer together, we are Newcastle UNITED #HowayTheLads pic.twitter.com/NBVAjmw1lG
— Ayoze Perez (@AyozePG) 19 August 2018
Ayoze Perez was the Magpies top goalscorer last season with eight Premier League goals, although six of those eight came in his final eight games for Rafa Benitez’s side. This season promises to be different, though, as Benitez has opted to bring in both Yoshinori Muto and Salomon Rondon to bolster their front line and it was the Japanese international, Muto who replaced Perez with 25 minutes left to play against Cardiff on Saturday.
If Perez can better his goalscoring tally from last season and also help his new strike partners bag then the club will be well placed to better last season’s 10th place finish. Last season, the only game in which Perez managed to find the net more than once was against Chelsea at St James Park on the final day of the season, however, this time around that fixture has come earlier and The Blues will be travelling to the Northeast this Sunday, a game in which Perez will be keen to repeat his performance from last season.
You can read the Geordies’ responses to Ayoze’s tweet here:
Keep it up Ayoze… teamwork makes the dream work!
— 𝕁𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕪 (@garynetchells) August 19, 2018
Great spirit to have. The fans are 100% behind the team. #nufc #toonarmy #HowayTheLads
— Crow Leonheart (@dannysrealm17) August 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/ScholefieldAlex/status/1031291298928570369
https://twitter.com/davebenn16/status/1031274489601044486
Can't question your commitment even when results don't go our way, love you Ayo!
— Matthew Warren (@Nom_Dahl_Warren) August 19, 2018
I’m hopelessly happy to be part of this awesome team/family
— Ms. L H (@exspygirl) 19 August 2018
https://twitter.com/eazynufc/status/1031272393573052417
The Newcastle fans on Twitter are keen to see their Spanish frontman on the scoresheet more often and will be hoping he can notch against Chelsea on Sunday.
