Newcastle United earned a slender but respectable 1-0 win over Serie A side Atalanta thanks to Chris Wood's first half penalty.
The clash against the Italian side was part one of a double weekend of action with Athletic Bilbao coming up on Saturday afternoon. A crowd of 40,596 enjoyed seeing the Magpies back in action after trips to Austria and Portugal and Eddie Howe now has just one more game to whittle down his starting line-up for that opener against Nottingham Forest.
Howe rested some of his first-team stars ahead of Saturday's encounter with Athletic Bilbao as Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson were in the stands while Jonjo Shelvey was missing with a hamstring injury. The first chance of the night fell for Colombia international Luis Muriel who flashed a shot wide from just outside the box with six minutes played.
READ MORE: Recap Newcastle's win over Atalanta as it happened
Newcastle responded with a shot from Jacob Murphy from long range but it didn't trouble visiting goalkeeper Marco Sportiello. Moments later a tame shot from 31-year-old Muriel was gathered easily by home debutant Nick Pope.
There was a strong challenge from Teun Koopmeiners on seven minutes as he steamed in on Elliot Anderson but the youngster bounced straight back on his feet despite the severity of the foul. Atalanta star Duvan Zapata had his first opportunity of the night on 18 minutes when his shot on the turn required the full attention of Pope who palmed it away from danger.
A deflected effort from Koopmeiners earned the visitors a corner with 27 minutes gone but the set-play - like much of the opening phase of the game - was poor. A quickly taken free-kick by United's captain Trippier saw him tee up Ryan Fraser but he sent his shot wide of the target.
There were seven first half minutes left when Anderson was fouled in the box with referee Peter Bankes pointing straight to the spot. Penalty duty was handed to Chris Wood and after failing to score in pre-season he stepped up to bury his kick past Sportiello.
Moments later Jacob Murphy fired one wide of the target as Newcastle looked to find a second quickly after taking the lead. Anderson had another chance just before the break when his left-footed effort fizzed across the face of goal.
Newcastle went in at the break with a slender lead in a game that had a typical pre-season tempo to it. Anderson had another early chance at the start of the second half with the youngster curling at goal and forcing Sportiello into a save low down.
Moments later Fraser rattled a shot straight at the 6ft 4in Italian stopper but Atalanta survived the danger. With 52 minutes gone Ederson struck a shot just over Pope's goal at the Leazes End.
Another Anderson burst into the box five minutes later saw the teenager fouled but this time ref Bankes waved away protests for a penalty. There were 62 minutes on the clock when a Muriel free-kick from long range was belted at Pope with venom.
Atalanta made five changes with 64 minutes played including goalkeeper Juan Musso who replaced the well worked Sportiello. A wild volley from Almiron with 17 minutes to go meant the lead stayed at just one for Newcastle as Atalanta continued to serve up a tired-looking display.
Atalanta made another batch of substitutions with 12 minutes left including the exit of Zapata after he'd been marked out of the game by Dan Burn. Howe made his first change of the night when introducing Matty Longstaff for Murphy with just nine minutes to go.
Matt Targett's left-footed effort, after he'd linked up with Wood, was parried by Russo at the Gallowgate End as Newcastle looked for a second goal. Howe introduced youngsters Dylan Stephenson and Matty Bondswell for the closing stages of the game. But they barely got a touch as the final whistle sounded after just a minute of stoppage time.
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