Despite the scoreline, the visiting Rotherham side really didn’t make life easy for Newcastle United today as they returned to the top of the Championship.
The Magpies ran out comfortable 4-0 winners of course, though there were certainly nervy periods during the first-half, particularly when a bizarre slip from Karl Darlow, only for him to pull off a stunning save, almost allowed the away side an easy tap in.
However, Daryl Murphy’s strike on the stroke of half-time seemed to change the atmosphere at St. James’ Park, who doubled their tally through Matt Ritchie, before Ayoze Perez added a third. After a number of reasonably poor performances of late, Ritchie then got his second brace in two games as the Millers began to roll over.
There wasn’t a fairytale goal for Sammy Ameobi in the end, as much as the crowd seemed to want it, though a promising aspect of the win was the fact Rafa Benitez never allowed his side to take their foot off the gas.
With all this in mind, here’s how the win played out in EIGHT great images.
