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Writer's pictureBobby Vincent

Newcastle 3-0 Cardiff

Fabian Schar scored a brace as Newcastle United thumped fellow strugglers Cardiff City at St. James' Park.

Magpies' centre-back Schar proved the unlikely hero on Tyneside, with his first goal being something pretty extraordinary.

Ayoze Perez completed the rout in stoppage-time, with Oumar Niasse making a pretty unaffective debut for the Bluebirds.

Cardiff have slipped back into the relegation zone, with Newcastle moving two points above them and have climbed to 17th.

Image via Sky Sports

Perez came close for the Magpies on 13 minutes, with his header producing a fine save from Neil Etheridge.

Etheridge couldn't do anything on 24 minutes, though. Schar picked the ball up on the halfway line and ran at the Bluebirds' defence - remarkably finding himself with a shooting opportunity in the box and he slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Cardiff tried to offer some sort of fightback, but the Toon defensive line stood strong.

It was soon 2-0 to Newcastle with Jamaal Lascelles flicking on a Matt Ritchie corner with Schar arriving to force the ball in the net.

Unbelievably, the centre-back could've had himself a hat-trick. But he headed a presentable chance wide of Etheridge's post.

In the second-half, Cardiff struggled to threaten at all - and it was probably a worse performance than the opening period.

Newcastle scored their third and final goal in the 93rd minute, with Perez scoring from close-range after some intelligent work by Salomon Rondon.

 

The Managers

Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez: "We could see from the first minute that our team wanted to get three points against a rival. We did really well.

"Everyone has to be pleased. My message to the fans was to stay calm and support the team - the players did well and the fans enjoyed every minute."

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock: "I didn't think it was a 3-0 game. I couldn't see them breaking through until the first goal which was poor from our point of view.

"We started the second-half well and were dangerous and then conceded the second that killed us. We didn't have anything drop for us and they were better than us in the final-third."

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