Newcastle United lifted the Sela Cup at St James' Park with a 4-0 hammering against Villarreal to end their pre-season schedule with silverware after a comfortable victory over the La Liga side.
Eddie Howe now has the near-impossible task of keeping his squad happy this week with up to five senior stars set for the bench against Aston Villa. Howe had shuffled the pack against the La Liga side with late auditions for the Villa game for the likes of Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes.
The encounter came after Fiorentina had beaten Nice 2-1 in a stormy game at lunchtime which involved a couple of brawls and left referee Jarred Gillett with his work cut out. It was a day in which Murphy, Longstaff and home debutant Barnes made strong cases to appear on Howe's team sheet next Saturday night.
Howe has been left with some hard calls to make ahead of the top-flight's curtain raiser next weekend. But he will not be complaining after two excellent displays over the weekend against the Spanish side and Italian opposition Fiorentina on Saturday.
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The game started well when Joelinton won a corner for the Magpies on the left-hand side after just 38 seconds in front of the Leazes End. Matt Ritchie swung the ball in but Jamaal Lascelles could not direct his header at goal.
Joelinton then nicked the ball off Dani Parejo in the middle to release Callum Wilson but his shot was blocked near the edge of the box with two minutes played. In a lively start for Brazil's latest international call-up, Joelinton was sent sprawling down the left flank to hand Newcastle a free-kick.
This time Ritchie curled the ball with Villarreal only able to half-clear the danger as far as Jacob Murphy. The ex-Norwich City star then took a touch before releasing a powerful shot that left Pepe Reina with no chance to put Newcastle ahead on six minutes.
Murphy then won a free-kick after a marauding run from full-back on the right-hand side. Ritchie despatched the set-piece and played it short to Bruno Guimaraes with Wilson applying the finish past Reina only for the goal to be chalked off.
Home debutant Harvey Barnes then raced clear before being fouled to win another free-kick for the home side. It eventually led to Sean Longstaff breaking into the box and going over but referee Anthony Taylor waved away slight protests.
Joelinton picked up a yellow card mid-way through the first half for persistent fouling to put him on thin ice. Newcastle's long-serving defender Paul Dummett then had the ball in the net on 27 minutes but ref Taylor blew for a foul on Reina.
United went forward again on 32 minutes with a good flowing move involving Sean Longstaff seeing Ritchie fire straight at Reina who needed two attempts to clutch on to the ball. In a lively first half, Longstaff was another to earn a yellow card.
Villarreal struggled to open Newcastle up in the final third with Alex Baena's long range strike one of a few dangerous moments for the visitors on 38 minutes. After a stormy first half in terms of fouls, the Magpies went in at the interval with a slender lead at the break.
Villarreal won a dangerous free-kick just 90 seconds into the second half but Newcastle defended it well with Ramon Terrats eventually blasting the threat over the bar. Barnes made a positive run down left on 51 minutes, collecting the ball before sending a shot just wide, as Newcastle went close to doubling the lead.
Taylor booked another Newcastle player with Dummett cautioned on 47 minutes for a foul. The £38million signing from Leicester was clearly in the mood as he burst down the same flank moments later as he forced a save out of Reina after being played in by Bruno.
A defensive error from Lascelles then saw Alexander Sorloth break free before sending his shot wide in what was a let-off for Newcastle. The Magpies then needed to thank Nick Pope on 54 minutes when he made a fine save to deny Adriano as Villarreal started to test the Toon defence.
But Newcastle went 2-0 up just after the hour mark after a good team move started by Wilson. The number 9 held the ball up before rolling it to Joelinton who then threaded a pass to Barnes to the left of the six-yard box.
Barnes then calmly picked his spot and rolled it into the bottom corner to put Newcastle 2-0 up and on course for the Sela Cup. With 15 minutes left, the scoreline looked even better as Murphy, Longstaff and Wilson combined before releasing Joelinton in the centre circle.
Joelinton then trickled the ball past his marker in the midfield before running on and firing past Reina via a post for one of the best goals of the weekend to make it 3-0. Howe started to protect his team and withdrew Longstaff for youngster Jay Turner-Cooke with 15 minutes left.
It started turning into a bit of a rout when Wilson galloped forward again on 77 minutes before squaring the ball to Barnes who slammed home his second to extend the lead to four. And that's how it stayed with the game easily wrapped in the second half.
This was a fine display from Newcastle but the real stuff gets under way next weekend. Newcastle could hardly be in better fettle for it.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Manchester)
Attendance: 34,621
