Newcastle United 3, Swansea City 0

Nov 30 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

EIGHTEEN games down and the verdict is in – complacency is the only opponent that can check Newcastle United's smooth passage back into the Premier League.

Following this comprehensive if not always entirely convincing defeat of Swansea, United have now made their acquaintances with all of the Championship's top eight clubs and there is absolutely nothing lurking in this division to cause Chris Hughton any sleepless nights. Paulo Sousa's Swansea arrived at St James' Park with a reputation for parsimonious defending and neat, concise attacking football but it was blown apart in a 30-minute exhibition of offensive power by the irresistible home side.

Forget what happened in the second half, United were a class above in that first 45 minutes – Jonas Gutierrez prompted with delightful attacking elan down the left while Peter Lovenkrands, a surprise replacement for the ill Andy Carroll, proved himself simply unplayable with undoubtedly his best display since returning to Tyneside in Septemeber. The infuriatingly inconsistent Marlon Harewood added muscle and a clinical touch and the game, and Swansea's pretensions that they could live with United's pedigree performers, was over.

When Swansea did spirit a way past the imperious pairing of Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor, they found Steve Harper in superb form. After a prolonged spell of inactivity, his wonderfully instinctive save from Cedric Van Der Gun towards the end of the first half was a reminder that United, too, have defensive strength.

Hughton and two-goal Harewood lined up afterwards to dutifully trot out the party line about taking nothing for granted but if they manage to maintain or better the eight-point gap to third place at the turn of the year, promotion is undeniably United's to lose.

Forget that it is still early days – the biggest battle at St James' Park is the one against self-confidence. On the pitch, there were signs of it in a lethargic second-half display that allowed Swansea to dictate much of the play and gave credibility to Sousa's claims that the 3-0 denouement flattered United.