Premier League: All Whites captain Chris Wood nets first goal for Newcastle

  • 11/03/2022

Kiwi forward Chris Wood is off the mark with new Premier League club Newcastle.

In the 32nd minute, the All Whites captain was well positioned for a powerful header into the back of the net against Southampton on Friday (NZ time) - his first goal in eight appearances for the Magpies since his transfer from Burnley.

In January, the 30-year-old signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Northern England side worth 25 million pounds (NZ$47m).

"It's nice to start my tally at Newcastle, which is fantastic," Wood said after the game. "Hopefully there's a lot more to come.

Bruno Guimaeres added another goal in the 52nd minute to complete a 2-1 comeback win, extending the surging Newcastle's unbeaten run to nine games.

The Brazilian displayed an audacious piece of skill, reacting quickest to back-heel the ball into the net following a corner.

Martin Dubravka pulled off a superb save from Mohammed Salisu late, as Newcastle moved to 31 points to retain 14th place - four clear of 15th-placed Watford.

"[All wins] are special for us at this point because there's a big challenge for us to stay out of the relegation zone and keep out of it."

Meanwhile, Chelsea put their off-pitch worries to one side as they beat a plucky Norwich City side 3-1 to consolidate third place.

The players at Chelsea, whose Russian owner Roman Abramovich has been placed under sanctions by the British government, did not appear to let the controversy affect them as they swept aside struggling Norwich who look headed for relegation.

Chelsea took the lead after three minutes with a Trevoh Chalobah header and soon doubled the advantage, when Mason Mount fired home before Kai Havertz wrapped up the win near the end. Norwich had pulled a goal back with a Teemu Pukki penalty.

Chelsea - whose fans sang Abramovich's name throughout the match - are on 56 points from 27 games and moved eight points clear of Arsenal, who are fourth but have two games in hand. Norwich stayed bottom on 17 points.

In other action, Aston Villa trounced Leeds United 3-0, while Wolves thrashed Watford 4-0.

Reuters/Newshub.