Eddie Howe believes Newcastle United’s victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday is a “big step forward” ahead of a challenging month.
The Magpies began 2026 in confident fashion at St. James’ Park, cruising to a comfortable 2-0 win courtesy of second half goals from Bruno Guimaraes and Malick Thiaw.
Howe’s side were forced to wait for their breakthrough, as Anthony Gordon and Joelinton both saw first-half goals ruled out for offside before Guimaraes opened the scoring in the 71st minute.
The Brazilian nodded home from close range, while Thiaw doubled their lead seven minutes later, prodding home after a goalmouth scramble from Guimaraes’ corner.
Having picked up back-to-back wins following their 3-1 rout of Burnley, Howe was pleased but stressed that the Magpies still have work to do ahead of a challenging part of the season.
“It’s a better position but we’ve got more work to do,” Howe told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got a massive month ahead.
"We need to build some momentum and confidence and today is a big step forward.
“It was a tough game, it always is against Palace. Oliver [Glasner] has done an amazing job.
"We had to be patient. I think the substitutions made a difference and helped us over the line.
“I think they were two good moves for the goals that weren't. We needed that first goal to relax us. I think we got better and better in the game.”
The victory means Newcastle are now unbeaten in their last seven home Premier League matches, having scored exactly two goals in each game during that run.
Howe was also full of praise for Miley, who impressed once again at right-back.
The 19-year-old completed all 59 of his passes – the best 100% rate of any player in a Premier League game this season and the second-highest by a Newcastle player on Opta record (since 2003/04) after Cheick Tiote against Arsenal in January 2016 (66 out of 66).
“He’s been incredible since he came into the team,” the Newcastle boss added.
“You wouldn’t know that right-back [isn’t his natural position].
"He’s excelled in this position [at full-back].
"He’s doing a great job in the team.”
Oliver Glasner, meanwhile, endured another difficult afternoon as Palace slumped to their fourth Premier League loss in five matches.
The Eagles are winless in their last seven matches across all competitions – their longest such run since a stretch of eight games between November and December 2023.
“It was a good performance but in the last four defeats we lost three just from set pieces,” Glasner told Sky Sports.
“It’s not acceptable and I have to find solutions to support the players better.
"We can’t afford to give so many goals away from set pieces, it’s the reason we lost today.
“I was pleased with how we moved the ball and defended [but] we need to look at where we can improve.
"We need to do better.”