Newcastle Hands Hull City First Loss of the Season

Newcastle United ended Hull City's unbeaten start in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at St James' Park on Saturday. Super Eagles defender Semi Ajayi played the full match for Hull, but they could not stop Newcastle from winning.

Joe Willock and Lewis Hall scored for Newcastle, putting them 2-0 ahead. Substitute Mohamed-Ali Cho managed to pull one back for Hull, but it was not enough, and this marked Hull's first league defeat of the season.

Ajayi has been a key player for Hull, starting every Premier League match before this game. He scored the club's first Premier League goal since 2017 against Manchester United and was part of a defense that had only conceded twice in their first four league games.

Hull had three clean sheets in a row before Chelsea came back to draw 2-2 with them at Stamford Bridge. They entered St James' Park with eight points, sitting in fourth place. A win would have made them the first promoted team to avoid defeat in their first five Premier League games since Portsmouth in 2003-04.

Newcastle, led by new head coach Matthias Jaissle, was looking to bounce back after losing 4-1 to Leeds United on Monday. Jaissle said his team, which has been hit by injuries, was “fully committed to showing a clear reaction in front of our fans.”

Willock, who was brought back into the team, made an instant impact by scoring just three minutes into the game. He struck the ball into the net from inside the box after Harvey Barnes set him up.

Newcastle quickly doubled their lead by winning the ball high up the pitch again. Barnes skillfully got past a couple of Hull defenders and passed to Hall. Hall then fired a shot into the bottom corner.

Just before half-time, Newcastle could have extended their lead when Sorba Thomas tripped Jacob Murphy in the penalty area. However, Hull goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis guessed right and saved Yoane Wissa's penalty kick.

Hull fought hard to get back into the game in the second half. They made it a tense finish when Cho scored his first goal since moving from Nice. This set up a nail-biting closing stretch for the match. Newcastle's goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek made a fantastic save to stop Mohamed Belloumi's powerful shot from distance.

In the closing moments, substitute Tim Iroegbunam fired a half-volley over the bar from close range. Newcastle managed to hold on to their lead and climbed to eighth in the league table, while Hull dropped to seventh.