Newcastle United gave new manager Matthias Jaissle a winning start after coming from behind to beat Valencia 2-1 at the Mestalla and lift the Trofeo Naranja.
Yoane Wissa scored twice after the break to overturn Filip Ugrinic’s early opener, while the Magpies also had to contend with the very worrying sight of Anthony Elanga leaving the field on a stretcher following a dreadful challenge from Valencia captain Jose Gaya.
New goalkeeper
Lukas Hornicek and midfielder Aladji Bamba made their Magpie debuts, Miodrag Pivas earned his first start, and center-back Malick Thiaw was given the captain armband to lead the team on his 25th birthday. Nick Woltemade, meanwhile, operated in his preferred position as a No. 10 behind William Osula, with Harvey Barnes and Elanga providing the width on the wings.
All that said, the evening could hardly have started worse. Valencia moved ahead inside just four minutes when Ugrinic found space around 25 yards from goal and curled an excellent effort beyond Hornicek into the top corner.
Newcastle thought they had equalized shortly after, when in the 10th minute a pass from Jacob Ramsey sent Elanga through to finish, only for the flag to go up for a razor-thin offside. Osula later appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty, but the major first-half incident arrived after 35 minutes when Gaya launched into a high challenge on Elanga.
The Valencia captain was immediately shown a red card — yes, in a damn meaningless friendly at the start of August — as players from both teams confronted one another in a big melee, while Elanga required a stretcher to leave the pitch.
Jaissle made four changes at halftime, introducing Wissa, Sean Steur, Bazoumana Touré and Mason Miley, and the substitutions quickly altered the game. Hornicek first produced a good stop from Guido Rodríguez before Wissa punished a Valencia mistake in the 52nd minute, collecting the loose ball and calmly finishing through Stole Dimitrievski’s legs to make it 1-1.
The winner arrived in the 76th minute and again involved two substitutes. Wissa and Toure launched a counterattack down the middle with the latter carrying the ball deep into Valencia territory and maturely resisting the temptation to shoot before sending an unselfish pass across goal. Wissa was waiting for the simplest of finishes, completing his double and giving Jaissle the comeback victory.
There were encouraging signs beyond the result. Toure’s speed immediately caused problems for Valencia, Steur again looked assured in possession, dominating the midfield, and Wissa produced arguably his best display since arriving on Tyneside a year ago.
Speaking after the game, Jaissle sounded determined not to overstate the significance of a preseason trophy following the first win of the Magpies’ summer.
“It was a friendly today; we will not smash the locker room now and celebrate a lot,” Jaissle said. “We’re quite balanced; we know what it is about. Now it’s pre-season, and we’re still looking to work on it.”
Newcastle leaves Spain with plenty still to improve, but also with a first victory under the new manager and many promising performances from the incoming transfers as they hope and fight to become central to his plans.
The Magpies’ preseason schedule continues on Wednesday when Jaissle’s side faces Everton at Murrayfield in Edinburgh.
For now, NUFC has a perfectly complete trifecta of a draw, a loss, and a win heading into the home stretch of the summer ahead of the Premier League debut against Liverpool two weeks from now.
