Leeds United overwhelm Newcastle United to maintain unbeaten Premier League start

Leeds United produced a dominant first-half performance to beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Elland Road and move third in the early Premier League table.

The result extended Leeds’ unbeaten start to the season while ending Matthias Jaissle’s perfect beginning as Newcastle manager. It also brought an emphatic conclusion to Newcastle’s six-match unbeaten run against Leeds.

The hosts controlled the match from the opening stages and created a series of chances before taking the lead in the 32nd minute. Ao Tanaka’s effort from outside the penalty area took two deflections before finding the bottom corner, with Lewis Miley credited with an own goal.

Leeds doubled their advantage two minutes later. James Justin sent a dangerous delivery into the box and Jayden Bogle applied the finishing touch to make it 2-0.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin was a constant threat to Newcastle and almost added a third after Lukas Hornicek had saved from a cross. The goalkeeper reacted quickly to deny the striker from the rebound.

Newcastle briefly threatened when Harvey Barnes found space, but Tarik Muharemovic produced an important block to prevent the visitors from reducing the deficit.

Calvert-Lewin eventually got his reward in first-half stoppage time. He fought his way past Sven Botman before sending a low shot into the net to give Leeds a commanding 3-0 lead.

It was the striker’s third goal in his last four appearances in all competitions and his eighth Premier League goal against Newcastle, making them his favourite opponent in the competition.

Newcastle showed some improvement after the interval, with Lewis Hall forcing a save from James Trafford, but Leeds continued to look dangerous.

Anton Stach missed an opportunity to extend the lead when he fired into the side netting after Botman had lost possession. Leeds soon had their fourth goal, though, as Noah Okafor met the ball on the edge of the area and struck a powerful half-volley beyond Hornicek.

Okafor had previously worked under Jaissle at Red Bull Salzburg, adding to the disappointment for the Newcastle manager.

The visitors claimed a consolation goal in the 90th minute when Bazoumana Toure calmly finished to score his first Premier League goal.

Jaissle said Newcastle had been unable to cope with Leeds’ intensity, particularly in the first half.

“It’s tough, really tough, difficult to digest,” he told Sky Sports. “This is a chance to learn straight out of it and there’s not much time to the next match, which is good.”

The 38-year-old refused to make excuses and said his young squad needed to respond quickly.

“With our young squad there will be ups and downs. Leeds are so intense, especially at home and we could not match that physicality in the first half,” he said.

“I don’t want to have excuses, we need to learn and be better. We missed the fundamentals.”

Leeds have lost only once in their last 13 league matches and are among the early pace-setters in the new Premier League campaign.