Huddersfield 0-1 Newcastle: Rondon nets solitary goal to earn valuable 3 points

Newcastle picked up a vital win against their relegation rivals Huddersfield thanks to Salomon Rondon.

Rafa Benitez micro-managed Newcastle United in the relentless, teeming west Yorkshire rain, apparently oblivious to the fact he is the subject of a new version of Wham!'s 'Last Christmas.' 

It wasn't what the Spaniard anticipated when leaving Real Madrid but having taken a further stride away from the relegation zone with a poor team he continues to build a reputation.

The supporters there to witness the win – one bare-chested and wearing felt reindeer antlers on a bitter day – have an idea what Benitez could only do with some money in his hands, though a look at the league table was enough to salve their frustrations.

A team which does not look to have depth in any department are 14th, suddenly six points clear of the relegation zone. Their football is not pretty but they have found a way of winning away – holding on for dear life then snatching points on the breakway. 

They are undefeated in four away and have only lost to the two Manchester clubs on the road all season. That Huddersfield are very much down there in the drop zone is a consequence of their desperate struggle to convert chances which head coach David Wagner can surely explain away no longer.

For 45 minutes, the game only seemed to have the home team's name on it. The floodlights briefly dimmed and you wondered where Benitez was going to find some power.

He had proclaimed this to be one of his team's consecutive 'cup finals', with bottom placed Fulham on Tyneside next weekend, but there was no incision, no guile, nothing remotely likely to exploit the high Huddersfield line and puncture a side who'd won only in 19 games here.

Where Kenedy – a player formerly known as Newcastle's creative nexus - has disappeared to is anyone's guess. He has a habit of playing with socks around his calves, once the sign of workhorse qualities, but struggled to find the most elementary pass. By the time he raced in and drove 10 feet over, ten minutes after the break, he wore a look on his face that suggested he knew his own game was over.

The best of Newcastle before the break was a cheeky 40-yard free chip on goal from Fabian Schar and a lofted 30-yard ball from Ki Sug-yueng for the same player, whose volley drew a sharp save from Jonas Lossl.

In every way, that first period belonged to Huddersfield, a team whose powers of creation are enhanced by the excellent of the Danish under-21 international Philip Billing. 

The midfielder, displaying the same elegance in possession and languid left-footed distribution he has been showing all season, was a foil to the busy industry of the pocket dynamo of Alex Pritchard. There is enough quality in Wagner's midfield to make this side competitive if they only had a finisher, though that is the weakness which has screaming out here for weeks. 

The individual carrying that responsibility, Lauren Depoitre, volleyed over when Chris Lowe's early corner reached him. When Billing had driven forward and located Pritchard on the right, the cross fell for Lowe, who with time to select his spot volleyed into the ground and wide.

This was the week when Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles led the decision to cancel the tea's Christmas party, such are their struggles, though he found himself booked before half-time for a wild challenge that took Depoitre into the advertising hoardings.

The circumstances by which the visitors punished the home side's profligacy were desperate, from a Wagner perspective. A speculative ball down the right which Javier Manquillo clipped into the path of Ayoze Perez, who guided it on for Salmon Randon. The retreating defence had failed to track the Venezuelan's run and he tapped home on 55 minutes.

It was enough to win the game for Newcastle, who retreated and held on to win a containment game. A shot from Lowe was sharply saved but Benitez's job was done. 'Last Christmas I gave you my heart,' goes that new song. 'This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to Rafa Benitez.'