Newcastle United ended their pre-season tour of Asia on a very positive note, securing a 1-0 win over West Ham United in the third-place play-offs of the Premier League Asia trophy.
Yoshinori Muto’s first-half strike made all the difference, with the Japanese also putting in an all-round solid performance.
Steve Bruce wasn’t able to stay in the dugout due to visa issues, but he was in the stands, and would have picked up some useful notes.
Clearly, Newcastle need to make quality additions to the squad this summer given their lack of depth, but the team performed beyond expectations against a strong Hammers line-up.